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It was still morning when Sebastian reached the gym, and never one to rush into things ill prepared, he decided to review a few of Grant's battles once more before declaring his challenge, which means another journey to a Pokemon center.
Upon arriving, the Nurse Joy manning the counter looked to Sebastian, and her eyes quickly grew with realization-- which was...unnerving. "Are you Sebastian Allender?" She asks, causing Sebastian to flinch.
"...Yes." His eyes quickly scan the center. Is this a trap? Has Cinder taken over this town, this Pokemon Center?
"I have a delivery for you. From a...hold on." She opens a drawer and shuffles through an array of junk, until finally putting her hands on a piece of paper. "Sahara. She says she wasn't sure where you were, but knew you'd make it here soon."
"Mother…?" Sebastian blinks, the idea of a Team Cinder Cyllage takeover forgotten as he approaches the desk. It's then that two Comfey wearing tiny nurse's hats come floating towards the redhead, both clutching onto a leather case-- a violin case. Upon taking the case, he takes note of a small letter attached to the binding.
A little piece of home. May it bring you joy. - Mom
"I see…" Sebastian smiles at the note. "Thank you, Nurse Joy."
---
Over an hour passed, the redheaded trainer watching Grant's videos until his eyes hurt from staring at the screen, and he found himself looking wistfully to the violin case. Music had always been such a powerful thing for him, when he would play that violin, the world melted away; he was no longer as asthmatic anemic whose bones didn't connect correctly, he was no longer a disappointment to his father, or a let down to his heritage. He was a boy so focused on the music he was creating that all those things...vanished. Will it have the same effect now? After everything he's seen...and done, will the violin's magic still pull him into another realm? There was one way to find out.
Violin case in hand, Sebastian wanders the city, eventually finding himself overlooking the ocean as he stands on the cliffside. He had not seen another human for several minutes, and decided this was as good a place as any to let himself drift away for a bit. He kneels down and opens the leather casing, feeling a sense of familiarity as soon as he sees the instrument, like an old friend waiting back home… Despite not playing for several months, his muscle memory kicks in as soon as he takes the instrument in his hand, and he easily rests the gorgeous wooden instrument against his shoulder. The bow held gently in his hand, he begins to play…
Just as expected, the intense focus it took to play the proper notes, along with the music streaming so close to his ear, soon caused the world to wash away, carried by the waves that gently crashed against the cliffside. His world dissolved into darkness and music, such that he didn't take notice when a rustling from a nearby rose bush signaled a little visitor. It's not until the song nears its end that he opens his eyes, to be greeted with a small brown wolf sitting beside him, her ears perked as her little body sways to the sound.
"Oh...hello." Sebastian blinks upon seeing the little creature. "Where did you come from?"
"Ruff." The Pokemon motions with her head towards the group of rose bushes that decorate the path.
"The roses…" Sebastian blinks as a memory surfaces from his childhood, which causes him to chuckle. "You know, when I was young, I read a story about a girl who was raised by Lycanrocs. She lived in a place called the Rose Woods, and she would play the violin to mimic the howls of her mother."
The Rockruff tilts her head as she looks at the violin, her tail swishing curiously. Taken in by the human's words, she quickly hops to a tall boulder and lets out a melodic howl to the tune she had just heard. After a few tries, she looks expectantly to Sebastian, and motions to his instrument with her paw.
"You want me to-- I see." Lifting his bow once more, Sebastian began gliding it across the strings, the little rock type soon pitching in with her howls.
As the song came to an end, Sebastian couldn't help but feel almost saddened. These songs last such a short time, and then reality drags its victims back into their harsh world. No matter how many songs he chose to play...he would always be brought back from the soothing realm of music, back to his bleak reality. "You have a beautiful voice, Fay'lene." He murmurs without much thought. This earns him a surprised bark from the brown fluffball on the stone.
"O-oh. Fay'lene, she was the girl in the story...I...suppose I got carried away."
"Rock!" The Rockruff cries as she leaps off her stone and trots to Sebastian, where she perches herself upon his feet. She looks up to the redhead with curious, excited eyes as her tail swishes against his leg.
"Would you...like to hear more about that story?" Sebastian asks, and the Rockruff yips in approval.
"Well...if I remember correctly, it started with a group of adventurers…"
---
"I'm afraid that's where our story ends, little one." Sebastian looks down at the Rockruff, who had hopped into his lap the moment he sat down. She lets out a quiet whine and paws at his stomach.
"Apologies...I wish I could tell you more."
The Rockruff looks saddened, her ears droop as she takes some of Sebastian's shirt gently into her mouth, hoping to keep him here.
"I…" Sebastian blinks. "You don't want me to go?"
Rockruff shakes her head.
Sebastian looks thoughtful as he gently pets the pup's back. "Would you like to...make some adventures of our own, Fay'lene?"
The Rockruff lets out a howl of excitement as she scrambles into Sebastian's arms. "Rah! Rah!"
"Then…" Sebastian digs through his bag, finding the blue Pokeball he was given after defeating that Steelix, back in Lumiose. "Welcome home, Fay'lene."
-DISCLAIMER: This takes place on Route 8. It also ends on a cliffhanger due to time and stuff.-
~Pyu-tanic~
_______________________________ In Route 8...
_______________________________
"I'm so thankful that nothing truly awful has happened to your brother, Caroline." Caroline just nodded to Lillie's response. "Yeah, but I can't help but wonder why he was just on the ground like that!" As soon as Caroline woke up and saw the unconscious Dahlia, she did what any sensible younger sister would do when they see their older brother at a state like this: scream loudly, immediately check to see if they're okay and ask their scientist friend what they did to them through phone...you know, sibling stuff.
When Fondre called Vex to understand what the heck happened at Glittering Cave, he just responded as well as you expected him to. "Nothing truly major, to be honest with you. Unless beating a Cinder Grunt's head to a bloody pulp with his feet is major to you. Aside from that...I don't think I was there when he was supposedly knocked out unconscious. We went our separate ways after the deed is done." Of course, Fondre left out the part where Dahlia did you-know-what when she told Caroline and Lillie about the situation. At the very least, it calmed Caroline down. Before she went outside, she made sure to give the egg she was holding to Nurse Joy.
"So, Lillie! How have you've been doing? Did anything interesting happened?" Candle was on Caroline's head, playing with Nebby. Lillie was looking at them and was giggling a bit. "Well, I did catch a new Pokémon...but that's nothing truly interesting, right?" "Hmm, I guess you're right. I mean, that's what many trainers do on a regular basis: Catch a bunch of Pokémon!" The two just talked about many things. They giggled a little, they laughed a little...but there was this sort of bittersweet feeling around their conversation for some reason. They didn't know why. Was it because of the events that were occurring around them? Was it because it has been a while since they were able to relax and just talk?
Who really cares, at this point? They are alive and that means they could talk to each other at this very moment. And that's all that mattered right now, in the grand scheme of things.
"Oh! Lillie, what's going on over there?" Caroline started to point at a certain part of the beach, where a bunch of small, round black and pink Pokémon were sitting at. There was a young woman over there, throwing them all back to the water. She was wearing some clothes obviously stylised after the black and pink Pokémon. "Oh...Those are Pyukumuku. They always stay in one spot and will never move from there, even when all the food on that one spot is gone. Because of that, people like that woman over there always have to keep chucking them back into the water, so they can get food." "They look so adorable!...But I already have a Water-type...but those clothes that woman is wearing is adorable too! I want them!" Caroline immediately ran off to the woman, with Lillie deciding to follow suit. "Hey, miss! I wanna know how you got those--" Almost immediately, Caroline got hit by a thrown Pyukumuku, leading her to fall flat on the sand, with Candle (who was still on her head) tumbling away and bumping into a nearby Pyukumuku. "Oh my goodness! I didn't see you there, little girl. Are you okay?" Nebby poked on Caroline's face to wake her up, while Lillie was running up to them. "Oh boy...I'm so sorry for my friend, miss." The Pyuku woman picked up the Pyukumuku from Caroline's face and chucked it back into the water. "It's alright. As long as a Pyukumuku doesn't get hurt, then everything is fine!" Caroline got up and looked down at the Pyukumuku Candle was next to. She picked it up and chucked it back into the ocean. She then looked at the Pyuku woman with a smile. "Miss, I wanna know how you got those cool clothes!" "Litwick!" The Pyuku woman giggled. "Oh, these? I made them myself! I thank you for your compliment." Lillie and Caroline (and their Pokémon) were amazed by that fact. "You seem to be quite good at designing clothes, then." "Pew, pew!"
"I want clothes like those!" Caroline said with a smile. "Sure! But first, I think I need some help with chucking these Pyukumukus back into the ocean. Chuck some Pyus, get some cool Pyu merchandise made by moi~! I think that's a good reward for you, right?" Caroline's eyes gleamed at this and she immediately started to chuck Pyukumukus left and right. It didn't take long for her to finish chucking all the Pyus back into the water. "Amazing! Is this your first time chucking Pyukumuku? Cause you already seem to be a chucking extraordinaire!" Caroline nodded. "Yes, indeed. Can I have some cool clothes now?" "Okay, okay...I just need to make them. It might take a while, but I'm still able to make them in a single day!" "Aw…"
_______________________________
"I don't wanna wait for my new clothes…I need to do something!" "Ahem...I'm still here, you know." Caroline looked to her side to see a pouting Lillie. "Oh, right! Sorry about that, Lillie. I must have been so focused on Pyu-putting that I forgot about you!" "It's alright. Hey, since you're apparently very bored, how about a battle?" Caroline nodded. "Sure! I really want to see how strong you are now!" Lillie giggled. "Okay, let's go over to that part of the beach."
_______________________________ Meanwhile, around the wreckage of the S.S. Marée...
_______________________________
A mysterious black coated duo started to walk towards the area of the wreckage of the cruise liner. Their faces were completely obscured by their hoods, but it was a little obvious what gender they were. They were immediately stopped by a female Ranger. "Hold it right there! This area is off-limits! Unless you have some sort of pass, you can't just waltz in over here!" The shorter one of the black coats, who worn heels of the same color, showed an image on her yellow Holo Caster. The ranger looked very closely at the image and just nodded. "Hmm...okay then, I guess you two are free to go." The taller one of the black coats nodded at this, as he and his partner decided to walk towards the area. The taller one suddenly stopped and eyed the ranger (even though it wasn't that obvious). "I swear, I have seen you before...but I can't put my finger on if you're the same one...I guess it has been a while since those events occurred. It must be a blur at this point."
The ranger's eyes widened at the sound of his voice. "Wait a minute...you're…!" As soon as she turned around to look at the black coated man, he and his female companion was already gone. "That man...was he the same one I saw from Santalune Forest? He sounded like him..."
_______________________________
"Ugh, this damn wreck of a...shipwreck, smells more awful than any of your roses." Dahlia took off his hood and immediately looked at Fondue in shock. "How dare you! Roses shall always smell more better any other scent you'll ever smell. In fact, I can show you that fact right now!" He threw one of his Poké Balls, with Sakura coming out of it. "Oh, Sakura~! We need you to use Sweet Scent for us." "Cherubi~" Sakura danced a little dance as a sweet pink mist started to come out of her leaves. It was able to push away the awful scent of blood and death everywhere. Dahlia smiled and just picked her up in his arms. Fondre pulled her hood to show her scowling face. "Oh yeah, that makes my nose feel so much better…"
"Well, you don't see me complaining about the scent of blood. The only thing I don't like about this place is the fact that this poor beautiful ship has suffered an awful fate." Fondre blew a raspberry at Dahlia. "It's better than possibly getting wrecked by a iceberg…" Even though she was able to make the current tone of the area a little bit lighter with her banter with Dahlia, Fondre still felt her stomach twisting and churning at a few of the pretty ugly sights within the wreckage. She just looked over at Dahlia, who didn't even seemed to be unfazed by it all. "Hey, Dahlia...aside from the ship itself, don't you feel...I don't know, sympathy for the victims around here?" Dahlia stopped walking.
"Hmm...I would like to. But that is how cruel life is, unfortunately. Death's door will always be at any corner, even at the most unsuspecting times." He looked over and started pointing at a pool of blood around a certain area of the wreckage. "This, right here? Isn't new. Unless it's a relative or friend that you've knew for so long...These people don't matter at all in the grand scheme of things. They only matter if they have made some sort of impact upon your life. They only matter if they have some sort of impact upon the world. All they are to us, right now...is just death fodder. Death fodder used to show how strong Team Cinder is. Death fodder used to make us feel bad for everything that has been happening these past few days." He looked at Fondre with a small frown upon his face, as he started to speak in a darker tone. "You can only feel a little bit of sympathy for a few seconds, until you realized that you don't even know their names...nor who they were before the event occurred...before you decide to just walk away, not even caring that they once existed in this precious world filled with beautiful roses. These victims were once roses, of course...before their petals were plucked aimlessly and viciously by the ringing bells of paraíso and infierno."
Fondre was a bit surprised at this long speech and wanted to complain about it...But she didn't, because she couldn't help but wince at the fact that Dahlia was painfully right. Why should she care about these people, anyway? They did nothing to her to make her feel bad for them. And like Dahlia said, incidents like these always seem to happen all the time now. Sure, things like this aren't pretty, but that doesn't mean they aren't rare. If things like this were rare, a lot more people would have been shocked and surprised. At this point, unless it happens to her or her friends, mass murder is like a slap to the wrist.
"Yeah, I guess you might be right…" Dahlia smiled. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? The only thing we should be thankful about is that we are still alive. Now then...shall we move along?" "Yeah, we should…" Fondre kept looking around the place with a frown. "Man, this place is too dark…! Pin--" Dahlia stops Fondue as soon as he heard the name of her signature Pokémon. "Wait! We're starting to get towards the point where this part of the wreckage might be drowned in water." He pointed at the other half of the hallway they were in, which was broken down and submerged in water. "Don't you have one that can help us navigate underwater and won't electrocute us as soon as we step into the sea?" "Ugh! Well, okay...I do have one that can swim." Fondue switched out Pin's Poké Ball for a Net Ball. "Only caught it so I can at least have a chance against Grant. Oh, and the possibility of getting electrocuted?...Well, we won't die underwater when she uses her electric moves..."
She throws her ball out, with a small blue Pokémon coming out of it. It was round and it looked like a fish. It had two antennae positioned on its rear like tails, with a yellow teardrop-like orb at the end of each antenna. It had eyes that were shaped like plus signs and while it was quite clear that it would be best suited for activities underwater, it was able to stand on land with it's two small feet with ease. "Chinchou~!" The Chinchou's yellow orbs Illuminated with electricity, as she suddenly electrocutes Fondre with happiness. Thankfully, she didn't get majorly hurt from it. Her hair, however…
"Oh my goodness!" Dahlia got a comb from his black coat and started to comb Fondue's hair back into its original state. "So...is this something you always have to deal with whenever you put this little scamp into the field?" "U-Unfortunately, y-y-yes...H-Her name is Ampoule…" Sakura was conversing with Ampoule while Dahlia was combing Fondue's hair. "Ampoule's ability is usually pretty crap to me, but for situations like this, it's a miracle!" Fondre snapped her fingers. Ampoule's antennae started to glow very brightly, like twin light bulbs or a flashlight. Dahlia was amazed by this. "Ah, what a useful ability! If I remember right, it is known as Illuminate. The ability to brighten up the area around the user, with an increased Pokémon encounter rate." Fondre scowled at that part. "Yeah, that's the real bad part. Although, maybe it might help out...somewhat. There might be some Pokémon to save underwater. Or maybe there's treasure!"
After Dahlia withdrew Sakura back into her ball, Fondre beckoned Ampoule to get in the water. "We're gonna have to find another way to follow them. I don't have any swimsuits or anything…" Dahlia nodded. "Indeed. But I don't think there's really another way, so it seems we have to swim now, whether we like it or not." "Ugh…" Dahlia threw his Great Ball, with Ignaro coming out of it. Fondre looked at the Slowpoke and laughed. "Kya-ha-ha! Wait, is this your only Water-type? It doesn't even look that powerful!" Dahlia made a pouty face, while Ignaro slowly walked to the water. "I assure you, it is quite a valuable asset to my team! It posed quite a challenge when I tried to catch it." Fondre snickered as she got inside the water and held on to Ampoule. "Yeah, right…Anyways, there better be some planks around to stand on. It would make our trip to the next pile of sea garbage a more pleasant and less wet ride." Dahlia got into the water with flourish and held on to Ignaro. "I agree. Besides, I really don't want these poor black coats to get very wet!"
_______________________________ Meanwhile, around another area in Route 8...
_______________________________
"Okay, are you ready?" Lillie said with a smile. Caroline nodded with a smile. "Of course I am!" Caroline felt so weird saying something like that. She would have never been fine with accepting the offer to battle, let alone even try to battle someone! But times are changing and she now knows that she can't be as strong as her brother if she just keeps running away from any battle. Besides, she actually really wanted to have a battle against Lillie.
"Okay, Nebby! I choose you!" "Come on, Zuruggu! Let's play~!"
As soon as Zuruggu came out from his ball, he immediately headbutted Caroline in the face. "Ow...Why do you always do that…?" Lillie and Nebby giggled at this. "Does that always happens between you and your Scraggy? You probably don't know this, but Scraggy usually headbutts anything it makes eye contact with." Lillie looked at Zuruggu a bit and noticed the Ring Target it was wearing. She squinted a bit at the snowflake symbol in the center of it, that was currently blinking a light blue color. "Hey, Caroline…? Where did you get that Ring Target?" "Oh, that? Well…"
_______________________________ Meanwhile, at the Cyllage Pokémon Center...
_______________________________
Vex almost choked on his drink when he felt the intense vibrating of his Holo Caster from inside one of his lab coat's pockets. "Guh!...What the…?!" He immediately picked up the device from one of his pockets and looked at the screen. When he saw what was on it, he smirked. "Finally, my little lab rat is actually bothering to use that little scamp of a Pokémon! Let's see how well this experiment goes…"
_______________________________ Back to the girls...
_______________________________
"He sounds...like an interesting person." "Yeah, he's a little weird. But we shouldn't be delaying your inevitable loss right now!" Caroline pointed at Lillie in a battle-ready pose. "Okay, Zuruggu! Let's start off with Zen Headbutt!" Zuruggu's forehead started to glow blue as he charged forward to his opponent. "Dodge it, Nebby!" Nebby immediately dodged to the side, which led to Zuruggu tripping on a very tiny rock and falling down on the sand. "Scragg…" +Oh man, I should have been expecting that…+ "Zen Headbutt, Nebby!" Nebby's entire body started to glow blue as he charged into the Scraggy. "Kyaa! Zuruggu, get up!"
Of course, it was too late. Zuruggu got hit by the attack at full force and was send flying into the air for a brief moment before landing back down on to the sand below. The attack was super effective, to the point where Zuruggu was unable to battle. Both Caroline and Lillie was quite surprised by this. "Oh no! I didn't know the Ring Target was gonna make that much of a difference…!" "Oh my…! I...think we overdid it, Nebby." "Pew…" Caroline immediately withdrew Zuruggu back into his ball. She sweared that she heard a sound before he was fully withdrawn into his ball, which probably came from the Ring Target. Lillie, still a little surprised by the easy win, shook her head and beckoned Nebby to come back to her side. "Okay, Caroline...Just to be fair, we should both switch Pokémon as soon as we knock one of them out." Caroline tilted her head. "...That sentence sounded weird...but I think I understand what you're talking about."
Lillie giggled a bit. "Well, as long as you understand. Now then…" She picked up one of her balls from her bag. "Let's go, Chingling!" She throws the ball, with the yellow bell Pokémon coming out of it. Caroline was about to get Pudoru's ball, but of course, a certain someone intervened. "Minccino!" Shiny comes out, landing on the ground with a mischievous smirk. Caroline sighs, not even surprised by this at this point. "Okay, Shiny...Go and do your thing!" Shiny was actually a bit surprised at this, but decided not to question it. Besides, it's been awhile since she has had a decent fight…
Without hesitation, Shiny started to run towards her opponent, her tail now encased in steel. "Okay, Chingling. Go and use Yawn!" Chingling yawns very loudly, a large bubble coming out of her mouth. It flies towards Shiny and pops right in front of her face. Shiny flinched a bit at this and was suddenly starting to feel a little more sleepy. She tried to shake the feeling off, but it only made her more tired. It didn't take too long for her to curl up and sleep on the ground. Caroline winced at this. "Not again…! Wake up, Shiny! Wake up~!" Shiny's ears perked up a bit at the sound of Caroline's voice, but her body didn't even budge.
Lillie was about to tell Chingling to use Confusion...but she didn't want Caroline to get frustrated at another loss. So, she decided to use a different move. "Chingling, use Uproar!" Chingling opened her mouth, with the orb inside vibrating. Blue sound waves started to emit from it, leading to Shiny waking up from the irritating noise. "Min…!" Shiny covered her ears, but she couldn't block out the entire noise. She stopped trying to block it away and started to dash towards the Chingling. Lillie immediately flinches. "Chingling, stop the Uproar and use Confusion!" Chingling stopped, but as soon as she did, Shiny was already up in her face, bashing Chingling to the side with a fierce Iron Tail. Chingling hits the ground hard and tried to get up, until Shiny hits her again with a Technician boosted Pound. Chingling couldn't get up after that. Shiny huffed and tried to walk away triumphantly...until she suddenly passed out on the ground.
"A double KO!" Caroline said in surprise. Lillie couldn't believe it either. "Oh my!" They both withdrew their Pokémon back into their balls. "Hey, Caroline...do you think the lady is done with the clothes?" "Hmm...probably! But you can't just use that as an excuse to forfeit! Let's keep going!" Lillie giggled. "Don't worry. I'm just getting started…!"
Caroline got a message on her Holo Caster. But due to being so focused on the battle, she didn't even hear her light pink device ring. Demetrio: 'Caroline, please come to Cyllage as soon as you can.'
Demetrio: 'I have some gifts just for you~'
Demetrio: 'Found them in a wrecked ship~'
Demetrio: '...Please respond? :<'
After experiencing what was easily in contention as the longest night of his life, Drew opted to sit and watch the calm morning tide. The water was so different to that in the black of night or even in the break of day. He felt like he'd watched its whole cycle. Of course the events continued to play in his head. Newt, Chris, the cinders...Paige. He stared over to Brycen, who found himself training in the shade. Now that the grass type had no pokeball, it was interesting to see how things would be going forward. If anything like how this morning had went, Drew would have to release the grass type before long. Brycen had convinced him to go on a run across the beach. Worst decision ever. Drew was certain that if not for his love for lakes and oceans, he'd have been a goner at this point.
Finally satisfied with the spectacle, Drew stepped over to a big rock, where he'd left his shirt to breeze. Instead of sweating through his shirt, he'd done his running in the far more durable towel. Running around the beach bare chested was something he wouldn't be caught dead doing. If it were possible for him to miraculously develop a six pack, then maybe he'd consider it, but otherwise, not a chance in hell. As he knelt to finally relive himself of the vulnerabilities of being half naked, a sharp gust of wind blasted down and sent the shirt flying into the air.
Behind the gust, a small bat enthusiastically rushed down and glomped his trainer. "Heyy!" Drew called out in shock as he wriggled free from the pokemon's grasp. "Dammit Zephyr, what did I say?" The trainer scolded. While on his run, Drew had rather foolishly assigned the young pokemon to man their camp. While the Gligar had managed to competently defend the area on his own, his joyous explosion upon seeing his trainer again had sent Drew's clothes all over the sand. Or at least it did his jeans and sneakers. His shirt caught a gust of wind and floated off into the beach.
"Zephyr...stay here." Drew growled in embarrassment as he glanced down at what he now had to wear. Swimming shorts, jeans, socks and shoes. Walking around the beach shirtless would usually be an absolute no-no. Thanks to Zephyr, he had no choice.
Elsewhere on the beach, Avril was enjoying another dose of beach time. After the rather... long night of exploring a shipwreck as well as the encounter with Odette, Avril wasn't exactly in a hurry to rush straight to Cyllage's gym to challenge the gym leader for a gym badge. Despite the fact that it had been quite a long time since she had been in a gym battle (and admittedly she did feel anxious about that), the blonde trainer had opted to spend the morning letting her team get some rest and relaxation time if they wanted to, or even a bit of training if they felt like it. Lulu and Marble were once again keeping themselves entertained by playing in the sand. Meanwhile, Shino, Radar and even Cecil were all busy with some training. In Cecil's case, this involved him trying to push a rather large rock back and forth through the sand. As for Shino and Radar, the duo were having a bit more of an interesting time training. The Frogadier was currently throwing small rocks in the bat's direction. In turn, the Noibat was attempting his best to try and dodge the stones by flying out of their path.
"Hard to believe that I'll finally be going up against another gym leader soon," Avril thought, the girl leaning back on her towel as she took in the morning sun with a sigh. "It's been so long since we battled against Viola, I almost forgot that that was my goal on this whole trek to begin with."
A small smile graced the girl's lips as she thought back to that battle. The only thing that remained the same from that day was the fact that Shino was still with her. Her team, her hair, her clothes, even her goals along the way had all changed so much. It was like she was a completely different person than the girl who won that Bug Badge over a month ago. She had barely won that battle, had it not been for Shino evolving when he did... she probably would have lost completely. While Avril knew that her team was a lot stronger than it had been that day, a small whisper in the back of her mind made her wonder if she would be able to pull this battle off with her own skill and not on account of dumb luck.
The sound of someone running through sand caught the girl's attention. Avril glanced up to see a slightly pale boy running past her. Avril raised the sunglasses off of her eyes, smiling as she recognized the boy properly as he ran by. "Hey, Drew! What's new?!"
The boy came to a grinding halt, sand flying under his skidding feet, as his name was called. He looked the girl up and down for a moment, before coming to a flash of realization. His face quickly reddened as he realized who it was he'd ran into. "Oh, hey Avril wh-what brings you here?" He smiled nervously, covering his eyes to avoid staring. On first glance he noticed that Avril looked very different, but the fact the girl was wearing a bikini made him see her in a completely different light. The entire time he'd known her, Avril had always worn baggy clothes. Seeing her like this was a real eye opener.
"Just enjoying some in the sun before we head off for the gym later this afternoon," Avril explained. She glanced over towards her pokémon as she spoke, feeling her smile grow as she watched her Shieldon, Noibat, and Frogadier training. "What about you?"
"Ah, nothing much, just..." He began, trying to sound as natural as he could despite still refusing to look at Avril for too long. As he fidgeted, he felt his hand brush over his own shoulder. "Looking for my shirt." He finished with a sigh. "You wouldn't happen to have seen it would you?" He asked begrudgingly. Nice as it was to talk to Avril after what seemed like forever, the circumstance was far from ideal. With Sebastian the circumstance made the encounter annoying, with Avril the circumstance was leaving him feeling pretty exposed and humiliated.
"A shirt...?" Avril questioned. She honestly hadn't been on the look out for runaway clothing, so she couldn't remember for the life of her if she had seen one or not. "Um... No, I don't think so..." She paused, watching Drew carefully. She noticed... that he wasn't actually looking at her when he was speaking. Was he embarrassed about something? Maybe she should ask. After all, they had been friends for a while now. It wouldn't be that invasive if she asked, would it? "Drew...? You... feelin' okay?"
"Me? No I'm good." Drew chuckled, those same nerves tightening up even more. He forced himself to look in the girls direction, his face flushing red again as he did so. He felt his thumb tugging to scratch at his fingertips, but quickly nipped it in the bud. "It's been a while, since Riviere, right? How's things been since then?" He asked, awkwardly rushing through his sentence.
"Busy..." Was the first word to slip out of the trainer's mouth. She glanced out at the ocean for a moment, thinking over every single detail that she had encountered between then and now. "Between pirate attacks, Team Cinder attacks, bringing a fossil back to life, exploring a shipwreck, and giant Rhyhorn rampages, I've barely had a chance to just sit back and chill for a bit, you know? If someone told me being a trainer was going to be this intense, I might have looked into another profession..."
Shaking her head at the thought, Avril glanced back up at the boy and offered him a warm smile. "What about you? I'm sure you've done some more... grounded-to-Earth sort of things, right?"
The boys face sunk as he heard the girl mention Team Cinder. The mention of fossils stood out to him as well, but he avoided reacting to that in fear that the name Paige may be brought up. "You've ran into Cinder again too, huh?" He groaned. The common ground allowed Drew to ease into the conversation and take a couple steps closer, despite his unease at seeing the girl in her swimsuit. "I get that though, seeing them over and over is the type of thing that'll make you want to move on." He glanced over to where he'd left Brycen, a glum and solemn frown taking his face.
Avril looked over to where Drew suddenly staring off. The blonde quickly took sight of Brycen, as well as the suddenly glum expression on the boy's face. "Did... something happen between you and your Quilladin...?"
"It's complicated..." Drew began, before glancing back at Avril. "Well...we sort of had a falling out, but it's all sorted now." He admitted, rubbing his neck apologetically. "Anyway...you've um, you look different." He desperately changed the subject. His unease at the touchy topic was enough to help him build the courage to comment on the girls new look.
"Yeah..." Avril replied, slowly sitting up so she could face Drew properly. "A um... A friend helped me out back in Ambrette Town. She helped convince me that I needed a few changes and helped me pick out a new hairstyle. Plus, it just sort of... felt good to change it up a bit you know?" She paused, running her hand through her now shorter hair. "How do you like it? Be honest."
"No it's good, great even." Drew stammered, surprised that Avril was having any doubts about her new look. She'd always been humble, but looking like this, it was hard to believe the girl wouldn't have the utmost confidence in her appearance. "Yeah, you never know what you're gonna get when you make a change." Drew smiled, doing his best to agree without outright lying. In truth, he hated change. That said, he was blown away by Avril's new look. "Not that your old look was bad or anything." He sighed, completely aware that he was fumbling all over himself.
Avril grinned, the blonde quickly taking note of how Drew seemed to be awfully flustered all of a sudden. It was sort of cute, really. Despite knowing the boy for some time, it was hard to remember that Drew was actually a few years younger than she was. A part of her realized that being his age... in this setting... with what she was wearing... It must have been pretty tough. On the other hand though, would it really be the worst thing ever if she just... played it up for a bit...?
Slowly, Avril came to stand to her feet and stretched, in a rather animated fashion. "Ice cream! We need ice cream, especially on a nice day like this! Don't you agree?"
Drew's eyes widened as Avril stood up, even following it by stretching in the most dramatic fashion he'd ever seen. Now that she was standing up, it became even more difficult for Drew to avoid looking where he knew he shouldn't. He completely averted his gaze again, opting to glance off in the direction he remembered his shirt flying off. "S-s-sure, let me just...get my shirt." Of course, getting his shirt was easier said than done. Avril distracting him had left to him completely missing where it had flown to.
The faint sound of giggling was quick to catch the attention of the girl. Turning, she saw the familiar sight of her Shuppet. Lulu was busy swaying back and forth, all the while a shirt happened to be hanging loosely from her ghostly mouth. Avril turned back towards Drew and sighed. "I think someone happened to find the shirt you were looking for."
"Oh. Thanks." Drew stated flatly, almost disappointed that his out was taken so swiftly. "Dessert store oughta be pretty cold." He said, hoping Avril wouldn't read too much into the subtext. Honestly, he felt no more at ease telling her how to dress than he did staring at her when she had next to nothing on, but at least this way he could actually look at her without feeling like his cheeks would explode.
Without another moment of hesitation, Drew went to grab his shirt from the ghost. However right as he got close enough to grab it, the little Shuppet suddenly rose quite a bit higher in the air. She glanced down at the boy, giving him a rather playful smirk, before she turned and wiggled her little ghostly rump in Drew's direction. Avril watched the display, her cheeks darkening a little from embarrassment at Lulu's antics.
The boys face contorted into a confused glare, before scrunching into a scowl as the pokemon taunted him like a bull fighter with a Tauros. Drew jumped, again swinging to grab the shirt. With a muffled, yet gleeful giggle, Lulu quickly shuffled around the boy. Now floating behind him, Lulu gave Drew a look, as if daring him to come get the shirt from her.
Drew prepared to attempt another jump as he gave the Shuppet another determined glare. Before he jumped though, he quickly composed himself as noticing Avril made him realize how crazy he must have looked jumping around with no shirt on. "Does this happen often?" He sighed, turning his full attention to the trainer, while still glaring at the ghost type from the corner of his eyes.
"More than I care to admit..." Avril replied, her hand over her mouth as she tried to hide the grin of her own that was breaking out. She had to admit, it was kind of amusing to see this happening when it wasn't her... though at the same time it was still annoying. "She um.. She doesn't mean any harm... probably. She's just... a bit full of herself at times. That's all."
With a sigh, the younger trainer looked back to the ghost. He had honestly been hoping Avril would take control of the situation, but the Shuppet didnt seem like she was about to let her trainer get in the way of her fun. He have to try a different approach. "Hey umm...Shuppet, can I have my shirt back please?" He smiled, trying his best to seem like he was no longer annoyed.
The Shuppet gave Drew a curious look. Slowly, she began to float towards the boy. A look of remorse quickly graced Lulu's features as she neared the boy, the shirt now easily within his grasp. She waited just long enough for the boy to reach out towards the shirt, before suddenly giggling and flying back up higher again. This was simply way too much fun, why would she want to stop now? Fortunately for Drew, some unexpected help quickly arrived. While Lulu was distracted with another fit of giggles, Avril's Noibat quickly charged at the ghost and slapped her over the head with his wing. The boy's shirt slipped out from Lulu's mouth, gently floating down to the ground beneath them. Lulu glared at Radar, the Noibat hissing away as he too gave the Shuppet a rather dirty look. It didn't take long for the two pokémon to explode into what appeared to be a heated argument. What either one of the two pokémon were saying, no one could be sure.
Drew quickly dusted himself off and scrambled to grab his shirt while the pokemon was distracted. He glanced up at what was unfolding with uncertainty. Avril's pokemon certainly had...character. He glanced at the trainer in question, before looking back to the two fighting pokemon. "Woah, woah, there's no need to let things get out of hand!" He called out feeling responsible for what he may have had a hand in starting. He wanted to break up the confrontation, but the duo were still too high up for him to separate them physically.
"Don't worry about it too much," Avril replied. She rubbed the back of her head with a weak giggle slipping out of her lips. "Radar and Lulu are like oil and water. They don't really get along too well, mostly because of... well, you saw Lulu." Not wanting to seem like a bad trainer or anything of the sort in front of Drew, Avril took the two pokéballs belonging to the Noibat and Shuppet and quickly recalled both of the arguing pokémon before things got even more awkward. "They'll be over it later. No worries."
"Good. As long as things aren't gonna get too heated." Drew smiled, finally feeling at ease while he put his shirt back on. Despite the fact Avril was still only in her swimsuit, he could breathe easy knowing he at least had his own shirt on. "So, ice cream?" He grinned, taking a second glance back at where the two pokemon had just been bickering. "Gotta say, it's pretty interesting to see how much your team has changed. With Salad, Benjamin and Anise all gone. What happened to those two anyway?" He inquired, his eyes widened with genuine curiosity.
Avril's expression seemed to drop ever so slightly at the mention of the three pokémon, Anise and Benjamin in particular. "Well... Salad's still at the daycare with Nebula, so he's fine... As for Benjamin, I um... I kind of decided to give him to Ja... another trainer. He seemed to like her a lot so, it... just seemed it would have been better to go with someone he seemed to click better with. Anise..." Avril paused, memories of the day she released the Noctowl back into the wild flooding her mind.
She honestly had no idea if Anise was doing alright or not. There was no guarantee that she was still even in the little grove that all those Pidgey called home. Some trainer could have found her and decided to catch her for all Avril knew. Shino and Marble both made their way towards the trainer, the Frogadier and Flaaffy exchanging looks of concern for the trainer. They could easily tell that despite the progress Avril had made in starting to get over her failures earlier in the journey, some lingering scars still remained. Cecil followed along behind the two pokémon. He didn't know who or what this Anise was, but the fact that it made his trainer's demeanor shift so suddenly was enough for him to tell she didn't like talking about.
"Well... you see..." Avril finally resumed. She told Drew the story about the wild Pidgey she found back on Route 5. She told him about the wild Murkrow and Honchkrow, about meeting up with Kade and the battle against the wild pokémon that took place. She explained the whole situation in detail, eventually ending with how the girl more or less found herself forced to release Anise to protect the birds on account of her own desires. "And... that's pretty much what happened there."
There wasn't much Drew could say in response to the story of Anise's departure. Even he had a strange attachment to the Pokemon having been present during her evolution. He knew he'd said the wrong thing, but knowing how to fix the issue was a whole other matter. His usual go to was empathy, but he had no experience in having to depart with a Pokemon. The closest he had come was Nebula, but he still had access to her, not that he wanted it. In his mind, he had long since gotten over the furry brown fox, especially with his team getting so much stronger since. On the flip side, he did have a familiar experience he considered comparable. His Charmander. He opened his mouth to mention it, but quickly pulled himself back in.
"I get that that must have sucked, I probably should've thought about it before asking something like that." He felt himself scratching his fingertips, but didn't bother even trying to stop it. If Avril was so willing to be open with him about these things, it didn't feel fair him to lie withhold the amount of information he had already done from her. "I'm sure wherever she is now, she's happy she got to have the time she did with a trainer as great as you." He complimented, making himself blush with how dumb and flowery he sounded. "Heck, as much as I hate to admit it, I feel the same way about Neb staying at the day care to help with the Eevee thing. Losing her at a time where she was the only pokemon I'd formed any kind of bond with other than Bry, really had me questioning my credentials as a trainer." He finished with a stuttered chuckle, shaking his head.
"Speaking of Nebula, have you heard how that's been going...?" Avril questioned, quick to get her mind of the subject of Anise. She appreciated Drew's concern, but the blonde really didn't want to dwell on the thought of the Noctowl too long. "We dropped her and Salad off a while ago, yeah...?"
"Huh...I guess I hadn't thought too much about it. I'm guessing you haven't either. I do wonder how those two are doing." He mused. "Haven't really had much time to call Faye though."
Avril glanced away from Drew. She hadn't told him the little detail that she really didn't plan on picking up Salad from the day care. He was safe there, and... really based on the Leafeon's attitude, she felt it was a good place for him to remain. At least, she'd leave him there until the journey was at its end. Avril seemed hesitant, almost as if she wanted to go into further detail about this matter. However before she got the chance to, the sudden screaming of a woman reached the ears of both trainers.
"Someone! Anyone?! Please someone, I need help!" the woman screamed. Avril quickly glanced over in the direction of the voice and saw a woman who looked absolutely stricken with panic. She was biting her bottom lip in dread, constantly glancing around to see if anyone was coming before turning back to stare at the sea. Eventually, the woman must have noticed Avril and Drew. In particular, she seemed to take note of the pokémon standing close towards the blonde girl. Frantically, the woman began to wave her arms in an attempt to get the attention of the trainers. "Please! You have to help me!"
Drew felt a sudden sense of urgency fill him as he heard the woman's cries for help. As soon as it came however, it was coupled with a seed of doubt, draining any sense of duty almost instantly. He thought back to what Paige had said, and to what he'd said to Sebastian. He was no hero, and he wasnt about to be now. "Sorry lady, I don't know if I'm really the best person to ask." He shrugged, furrowing his brows. "I don't know the situation, but I'm pre-"
Avril didn't give the boy a chance to finish his statement. Without delay, the girl took Drew by the wrist and practically dragged him towards the panicking mother. Shino and Avril's other pokémon followed close behind the girl as the duo made their way towards the woman. A look of relief, albeit momentary, graced the woman's features as the duo reached her side.
Avril's eagerness to help the woman burned Drew to his core. While he didn't want to disappoint her, his mind was already set. He was no hero. Glittering cave forced him to learn that the hard way. Him not stopping Avril from jumping at this opportunity could lead her to the same thing; but then, just because he wasn't cut out to be the hero, it didn't mean she wasn't.
"What's the problem ma'am? Is everything alright?" Avril asked.
The woman quickly shook her head in response. "It's my daughter. She got caught out by a riptide... and... and, just look!"
He glanced in the direction the woman was pointing, to see a child in a tuber ring getting barraged by a cluster of waves. The boy felt his heart sink as he watched the girl get taken under the water over and over. Still though...he couldn't bring himself to take action. "Isn't there a lifeguard around here?" He did his best to keep himself from showing any sort of serious reaction.
Avril turned and stared at Drew in a look of disbelief. "What kind of question was that? Don't you think she would have gotten one by now in the event that there was one?!"
"I..." Drew staggered back, unsure of how exactly to answer that. He was under no obligation to risk his own life to save this little girl's life. It would be easy for something to go wrong and for him to end up in that same position she was in. His brows furrowed. The pressure from Avril was enough to make him take a step forward, but he was able to do no more than that. His stomach twisted in fear. He'd been scratching fingertips since he realized what it was the woman wanted. "I'm sorry." He clenched his fist and began walking toward the water.
Avril bit her lip, watching as Drew slowly made his way forward. She suddenly felt a bit bad over the fact that she had snapped at the boy like she had. The blonde turned to the woman for a moment, offering her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to save your daughter."
"Please... I'm counting on you," the woman said, staring out at the sea with fear evident on her face.
Avril nodded and quickly went to catch up to Drew. She could hear the faint sound of splashing behind her, most likely the sound of her pokémon coming up behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at the trio, realizing that the water's current state was most likely not a good place for Marble or Cecil to be following her. Avril took a moment to recall the Flaaffy and Shieldon back into their pokéballs, before motioning for Shino to follow her further into the water. After a few more seconds, the blonde caught up to Drew and began to speak a bit more quiet so only the boy would hear her.
"Look, I... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything," Avril began. "That woman clearly needed help. This really isn't the time to be second guessing or anything, you know?"
"I needed to hear it." Drew lied. He didn't even look back to Avril as he responded. Instead he continued to push through the water. The force of the waves was evident as soon as the two trainers ventured further into the water. Drew felt himself being pushed back, but something kept him going. At this point he had no idea what, since every fiber of his will was telling him to turn back. "What now?" He shuddered as another harsh wave forced him a few feet back.
Brycen watched on from the coast as his trainer took on the the waters along with Avril and Kie. Seeing Drew try to tackle something like this was surprising enough, but the fact he hadn't asked him for any kind of help shocked him even more. Even with Avril by his side surely he wanted the help of at least one of his own pokemon. With Zephyr and Levi back at the camp, and him staying on the beach, the only help he'd have was...Caesar. Brycen's eyes widened with realization. He'd probably need a new trainer by the time this was over.
Avril frowned, the girl herself having trouble keeping her footing in the rather rough waters. The blonde glanced over her shoulder, taking note of Shino who seemed to be managing to hold his footing just fine. It looked like the water pokémon was going to be their best bet of reaching the girl to safety. The question was whether or not the Frogadier would be able to hold his own if he swam through the waves with how rough they were today. While Shino was very agile and took to water rather well, there was no promise that he would be able to fight back against the waves, regardless of how hard he had been training.
"First things first, we need to make sure the girl is okay," Avril stated rather bluntly. "We need to let her know that we are trying to help. Her getting worked up further or staying in panic won't help. If anything, it might tire her out before we manage to reach her..."
Reaching her was a different issue entirely. Swimming against the current the girl was trapped in was practically suicide, but surely Avril knew that going on. Drew looked over to the girl, his breaths quickening, as he got a close up of the predicament he and Avril could find themselves in if they weren't careful. "I guess the only way to get to her is to go under, right?" Drew sighed, seeing another wave clasp over the girl's head. Without another moment of hesitation, the boy dove under the the water and attempted to swin towards the ocean's victim.
Avril watched as Drew dove under. He seemed so unsure of himself just a moment ago, but now he was clearly taking the initiative in trying to save the child. Maybe whatever she had said to him as they headed into the water did work, despite how mean it may have sounded. Avril was glad that the boy didn't take offense to it after all.
"Well, no sense in letting him do it all," Avril said. Taking Radar's pokéball back in her hand, the girl tossed it up in the air and released the Noibat once more. Radar glanced around in confusion for a moment, clearly wondering why he was being called out again so suddenly. The bat pokémon fluttered down towards his trainer, who was quick to explain it to him. "We're trying to save that girl over there," Avril began, pointing to the girl who had somehow managed to grab hold of a rock long enough to try and catch her breath. "I need you to get over there to her and try and get her attention, Radar. Try to let her know that we're trying to save her and keep her calm!"
The Noibat quickly responded with a small screech before flapping his way over towards the child. The girl was breathing quickly, trying her best to keep from going under again. Despite how soaked to the bone she was, Radar could clearly see tears running down the small child's frightened face. He fluttered down to her level, clearly surprising the girl in the process. A wave of fear rushed through the child, who began to think that Radar was a wild pokémon suddenly attacking her. Thankfully, the Noibat managed to get her attention just long enough to point out Avril and Drew were trying to help her.
Forty seconds. Maximum. If Drew was going to get through these waves, he'd need to be quick. Hardly something he was known for. He opened his eyes, the seismic sea water sizzling away at his very vision, but he managed to see the girl. He swam to her. Another harsh wave brushed him aside. Twenty five seconds? Still in his range, but he couldn't afford another setback. He swam, his life on the line with every stroke. Ten seconds. Every piece of sand, trash or shipwreck rubble was just another obstacle, but he swam through all of it. Five Seconds. Just a little more. She was in his reach, if he just stretched...he heard a scream from above the water. Her leg pulled away and a wave came crashing in. Drew was flushed deeper...three seconds....two seconds...
Drew suddenly felt a slightly stick hand grab onto the back of his shirt. Shino had thankfully followed behind after he had dove into the water and managed to catch up to the boy. Without a moment's delay, the Frogadier quickly dragged Drew back up to the surface, where a relieved Avril waited for the duo to return. Shino too shared a look of relief with his trainer, as there was a moment of doubt in the pokémon's mind as to whether or not he would make it in time.
Levi and Zephyr came rushing to the aid of their trainer, the latter almost in tears at the sight. Levi on the other hand, was more assured, and wasted no time jumping onto Drew's back. The crushing weight of the steel type instantly forced the majority of the water from the boy's lungs. The Aron looked down at his trainer, waiting for some confirmation that he was indeed still alive.
He didn't have to wait long before Drew coughed up the remains. Avril was quick to reach the boy's side. Concern evident on her face as she checked the boy over, making sure that he was still breathing. "Drew...? Drew can you hear me?!"
"Oh my god, are you guys okay?" The woman came running, her own eyes full of concern as well. It was evident that her worry was growing as she watched what she thought were her daughter's saviors get washed up on the beach.
Avril sighed in relief as she heard Drew take a breath. The boy was clearly alive, so at the very least one of them was going to be getting out of this situation alive. The problem was, Avri wasn't too sure if the woman's daughter was going to be one of them. While Shino was a pokémon, the chances of him reaching the girl wasn't looking too high. Frogadier was a lot lighter than the typical human, so the probability of him reaching the girl through the rough waves were very slim.
"We're okay, but... I... I dunno if we're gonna be able to reach your daughter," Avril admitted. "If a person couldn't make headway through the water... I dunno how much of a chance my Frogadier will have. He's the only water pokémon we have between us and he just barely managed to grab hold of Drew in time." A look of defeat graced Shino's features, before quickly being replaced with one of frustration. Avril glanced down at her frog pokémon, feeling just as helpless as he did. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
The woman's face curled into a frown, she couldn't stand to see her daughter struggle for a single second longer. "I think I may have something that could help." She said, sharply pulling out a blue TM disc from her bag. "I don't have any pokemon, so I completely forgot I had it, but some surfer man was trying to flirt with me earlier and gave it to me as a forward gift. It might be something you could use." She frowned again, remembering the incident with disgust.
"A TM...?" Avril questioned. She carefully took the disc from the woman, looking at it for a moment with a curious glance. The blue color meant that it was likely either a water or an ice type move, with more evidence pointing towards the former judging from the woman's story.
"I'm not sure what it does, but the man said something about riding the waves. Surfing." She seemed to almost come to some sort of realization as she said it herself. "I don't know how, but if that thing allows you to surf, maybe it can help you save Heather." The woman finally smiled in hopeful optimism.
"Anything's worth a shot!" Avril replied back, suddenly feeling a bit optimistic herself. That is, until she remembered one flaw. Her pokédex was back in her trainer bag... which was back at the beach. Without a moment's delay, the blonde quickly grabbed hold of Lulu's pokéball and released the ghost back outside. Lulu giggled at the feeling of being free once more, gently floating down towards her trainer with glee. "Lulu, go get the pokédex out of my bag, now!" The ghost pokémon gave her trainer a strange look, clearly not too sold on being put to work so quickly. After all, the blonde didn't even give her a please. Hadn't she ever heard of manners? Avril glared at the ghost, clearly not in the mood... especially with the given situation. "NOW, LULU!"
The ghost pokémon seemed to be a bit taken back by the rather forcefulness of Avril's tone. She gave the trainer a cautious look, before suddenly scurrying off towards the bag as she was told. The Shuppet was only gone for a moment or two before she came back with Avril's pokédex gripped tightly in her mouth. Without even the need to be told, she lowered herself down to Avril's level so the trainer could retrieve the device from the pokémon's mouth. She quickly pulled up Shino's information in the pokédex and scanned the disc into the device.
"Crap, move limit," Avril sighed under her breath. For a moment, she had forgotten that Shino already knew six battle moves. On the bright side, at least the move she scanned in was indeed Surf. "Well... I don't think we need that one anymore... so..." In a series of quick taps, Avril went about having the Frogadier forget how to use Lick and quickly replaced the move with Surf. She watched as the TM began to glow brightly, before Shino's eyes lit up as well, a loud croak escaping his lips as if he was getting a sudden rush of power. "Shino, there's no time for practice! Use Surf and get to that girl!"
Shino wasted no time in diving right into the waves of the water. As if by magic, the water around him quickly began to rise up, the tides and currents suddenly shifting as he rode the waves straight for the little girl. A look of relief, followed by delight reached Heather's face as the Frogadier quickly rode to her rescue. As soon as Shino got close enough, he quickly dispelled the technique and landed in the water in front of her. Shino motioned for the little girl to grab hold of him, which she did by hugging him around his neck. A surprised croak escaped his mouth at the sudden shift of weight in the water, but the Frogadier managed to remain focused. Realizing time was of the essence for the girl, Shino quickly activated Surf once more and rode the waves right back to the shores. The girl had managed to be saved... and just in time.
The mother wasted no time tending to young Heather, trying to get as much water from the girl as she could. Once the young girl was breathing soundly, her mother turned her attention to Avril. She paused for a moment. What could she say to the girl who just saved her daughter's life. Discounting the massive difference in size, the mother found a way to hug both Avril and Shino in the same ecstatic lunge. "Thank you Thank you!" She cheered, tears streaming down her face. "Part of me was really starting to believe I'd lost her for good." She sobbed.
She rummaged through her bag, looking for her purse to reward them. "Here, I don't know how much is really worth what I just had you do for me, but please take something." She begged, dripping with tears. She took out 4,000 poke and held it out for Avril to take.
Heather clung to her mother's leg, shivering from the breeze touching her sensitive wet skin. Despite the trauma of what she had just experienced, she too seemed more than eager to reward her new heroes.
"N-No, I couldn't take that... " Avril replied, her cheeks darkening at the praise she was receiving. "Your daughter's life, it shouldn't have a price placed on it."
"I...I have just the thing." The mother sniffled. She rummaged through her bag again, this time pulling out three heart scales. "It doesn't nearly match what you've done for me, but if it can help you even a little bit..." She smiled, absolutely insisting Avril take the reward.
To make sure the girl couldn't refuse, Heather took the scales from her mother and held them out herself. Avril glanced between the daughter and mother, realizing that there was no possible way she was going to get out of this without taking some form of reward. Especially with the intensity of the eyes that her daughter was staring at her with. Avril somehow felt bad over the fact that she was trying to turn down the reward. Reluctantly, the blonde held her hand out to accept the scales from the little girl.
"Thank you so m-"
Drew gasped for air, waking and sitting up in the same instance. He glanced around, barely flinching from the salty sting in his eyes. Brycen, Levi and Zephyr were all attentive to their trainer, but the boy's attention was drawn to the gathering of his fellow humans. "Avril.." He choked trying to rid himself of his dry throat. "Did we..." He stopped as his eyes met with Heather's. "Oh..."
"Drew! Are you alright? You're not hurt or anything are you?" Avril asked, quickly bending over to check on the boy as she spoke.
"I think I'm alright, thanks." Drew croaked in response. "My back really aches for some reason, but I'll live. How did you manage to do it?"
"Turns out that the girl's mom had a TM for Surf," Avril explained. She glanced over her shoulder at Shino, smiling proudly. "In a way, I guess you can say I didn't do it so much as he did. That little girl wouldn't have be here right now if we didn't have him!"
A small blush quickly worked its way up to Shino's cheeks. The Frogadier quickly fumbled, trying his best to somehow maintain a calm composure, but it was impossible for the frog pokémon to keep the smile from stretching across his mouth. This earned him some teasing on behalf of Lulu, who floated circles around Shino while making mimics of the face he was trying to make.
Drew chuckled as he watched the antics of Avril's pokemon. He could definitely appreciate the Shuppet's antics at a time like this.
He returned his attention to the pokemon's trainer. Instinctively, he flushed red, pulling away in embarrassment. "So uhh...Ice Cream, right?" He chuckled, trying to dismiss how he felt about the position he'd just been in.
– Shiny Stone
2x Team Plasma Pin
Cloned Gyrados Embers
Green and Black dust
Pickaxe
~
Cyllage city. It was about time! Chris groaned and collapsed onto a chair in the breakfast room of Hotel Cyllage. He'd checked in extremely late, and it was still moderately early for him. He unwrapped the tinfoil from around the breakfast burrito he'd purchased at a nearby convenience store and began chowing down when he heard a shrill voice from behind him.
"Rookie!" The ear bleeding screech rang in his ears.
"Da hvuck?" He choked as he was grappled from behind by a feminine pair of arms wrapped themselves around his throat and a black-haired face leaned over his head to stare at him from above.
"I knew you just couldn't get enough! Racing is in your blood rookie!" Rinka cheered as she punched him in the arm repeatedly, having released him from her surprisingly strong grip.
Taking a moment to swallow so that he didn't choke, he looked back up at the girl in confusion. "Que?"
"…You don't even know. Well this is awkward." Rinka sighed. "Cyllage is a huge racing town. The gym leader here, Grant, is a heavy racing enthusiast. And today they're holding not one, but TWO races. One on the backs of Pokémon, which is a bit too old fashioned for my tastes but hey, apparently some people like it… and then an all wheels out race. Bikes, Skates, Boards, you name it. So you're in right?" Rinka explained, staring Chris down with the fury of a thousand suns.
"…I don't feel like I have a choice." The boy responded.
"You don't! Come on!"
"Por qué." Chris complained as he scanned the other racers. There were several professional looking racers, as well as himself and Rinka. Returning alongside the young girl were the twins Nate and Kate, who were squabbling over something as per their usual, and of course… low and behold, the Cyllage City racer extreme and local Gym Leader Grant.
("Okay Christopher… we can do this.") The boy said, breathing in and out as he stepped up to the starting line.
"This race will begin here, the first portion of the race will be through the town! Roads have been closed off as for the protection of pedestrians so go as fast as you can and beat your opponents!" The announcer shouted, receiving a cheer of applause from the racers and crowd. "The second portion of the race will be along the Cyllage cliffs. It'll be a lot of elevation change! Get yourselves ready to really stretch those leg muscles! Finally, the last stretch will be a bit of offroading along the beach! Don't stop to admire the scenery though, you're competition will likely be right behind you!
There are a few rules we need to discuss before we begin! Most importantly, your wheels are your mode of transportation! If you stop using your wheels you're disqualified! Rule number two, assaulting other racers directly is forbidden! We don't want anybody hurt! However, you may interfere with them indirectly. Would be a shame if their path became blocked by an icy stalactite, or if something caught in their wheels halting their progress! Third and final rule… have fun!"
As the announcer finished speaking, Chris felt the air catch in his lungs. His heart began to pound as he felt the tentacles of Dios caress his neck. The swords hanging from his belt also seemed to ring in anticipation as he waited to hear the starting pistol fire.
"I've been waiting in eager anticipation! I saw a broadcast of your last race and have been hoping for a worthy challenger to appear!" The handsome and athletic looking gym leader mentioned as he rode up beside him on a brand new looking bike.
"I'm not really sure if I'm worthy at all. That last race was more beginners luck than anything." The boy responded humbly.
"I have a feeling that our race will still turn out to be worth the wait regardless." The lean man responded with a sly grin.
Bang!
Chris was left behind in a cloud of dust as he gasped at the speed at which Grant sped forward, he was already ten to fifteen feet ahead of Christopher.
"No you don't." Chris hissed as he watched Nate, Kate, and Rinka all skate forwards past him. The boy began to concentrate, feeling the excitement buzz in the air as he slowly began catching up with some of the unknown racers as they sped past cheering pedestrians on the sidelines. "Dios, mud shot!" The boy called as he began nearing a red-haired teen probably around Drew's age riding a bike. The ground in front of the bike was suddenly covered in a thick mucus like layer of sludge that the tires began to slide across, sending the boy tumbling along the asphalt road.
"We've got some treachery at foot already as it seems the Parterre Way race champion isn't having any mercy on the track today!" An announcer called out from his Drifblim style air balloon hovering over the race.
("I will not lose.") Chris reminded himself mentally as he pressed forwards, passing another skater and leaving her in his dust. ("I will not-") Chris thought process was cut mid-sentence as the asphalt type road was suddenly turned into a slick sheet of ice in front of him. An Aurorus on the sidelines stared directly at Chris, as if to taunt the boy as he began sliding across the sheet of ice.
("Don't fight the ice. That'll only land you on your ass.") Chris grunted as he felt his legs begin to wobbly as the skates began slipping across the ice. ("Lean into it. Push forward. Basic momentum and traction.") Chris called as he shakily pushed forwards and across the ice. Behind him he heard the cracking of ice as a bike smashed into it, sending the rider skittering across the field, a young boy crying as he fell face first into the ground.
Chris felt his foot begin to give out. Suddenly he felt the sword Pokémon wrap its cloth around his hands as the tip dug itself into the ice. Using Whisper as an anchor, Chris began to steady himself. One sword forward. Then the next. Using the blades as if he was skiing, the boy could cross the ice without ending up on his butt like many of the other racers.
Once he reached the end of the ice sheet, he could see Nate and Kate up ahead, both sprawled out as a large boulder was sitting in the center of the road and a large reptilian Pokémon with stubby arms and a strong looking jaw grinned at the field.
"Tyrantrum? Really?" Chris complained as he watched the dinosaur pick up another boulder from the cliffside and hurl it towards him.
Ching!
The sword Pokémon whirred forward at an alarming rate, Chris didn't even have time to react before he watched the two halves of the boulder smash into the ground beside him harmlessly.
"Es bueno que estés de mi lado." Chris muttered as he felt the swords return to his side. Turning his head to look at the sprawled-out skaters, Chris gave a little wave and shouted: "Catch up if you can!"
The Tyrantrum however, did not appear pleased that someone had gotten past its trap.
"GRAAOOOOAAAA" The Pokémon screamed as it lifted one of its massive feet in an attempt to squash the boy as he raced forward.
"Uh-oh!" The announcer called. "It seems Grant's Tyrantrum hasn't given up on stopping young Christopher just yet! What will the boy do against such a fearsome beast!"
("Wait wasn't one of the rules don't attack other racers directly?!") Chris mused to himself as he narrowly skid under the large foot of the reptile. Suddenly Chris felt the ground beneath him begin to change elevation. "Oh great, I'm getting closer to its teeth now!" He complained as the dinosaur began to lick its lips grin as it prepared to wait for Chris to loop back around and shuffled back towards another section of the track to stall another racer in the meantime.
("Okay okay, I need a plan.") Chris panicked as he began twisting up the cliffside. "Tyrantrum is a rock and dragon type fossil Pokémon. Meaning he'll be weak to… Ice! Dios, prepare to launch an aurora beam at the things face!"
Chris began to push along the last twist up the cliff. As he did so, he watched as the large reptilian head of the dinosaur turned towards him.
"Now!" The boy shouted, and the small tentacle monster spat forward a rainbow beam of frosted breath, smacking the large dinosaur square in the face.
"Grrroaaa…" The tyrant Pokémon complained as it looked away from Chris as he sped past it.
Speeding forward, Chris began to see two forms ahead of him. Rinka and Grant. The first and current second place speeding towards an insanely steep cliff.
"Uh-Oh! Here comes the rookie!" Rinka mocked as Chris neared the two of them.
"Most exciting. I see you made it past my Pokémon." He mused.
"I hope you're ready for some real speed Chris!" Rinka cheered as they neared the drop off.
"Oh fu-" Chris began to scream as he lost all control of direction as he began plummeting down the cliffside.
His jacket blowing in the wind behind him, Chris was at such an angle that it almost felt like a freefall. His skates barely holding the ground began to slowly curve downwards again, pushing him forward at a hurtling pace towards the beach up ahead. Grant and Rinka seemed to have taken the almost fall in stride and where both pushing forwards at their more than fair pace.
"It would seem that our three remaining racers are all nearing the third and final stretch of the race! Grant the reigning champion of Cyllage, Rinka the skater extraordinaire, and Christopher Rodriguez the champion of Parterre way!" The announcer called from up above.
("Almost there. I need to get ahead of Grant and Rinka somehow…") He thought to himself.
As the three of them began speeding through the sand, neck and neck, Chris began to get an idea. "Dios! Brine!" He called, grinning as the tentacle creature began blasting the sand below them, causing the sand to shift and swell. Grant and Rinka began to slow as their wheels began to get caught in the newly formed quicksand as Chris began to slowly gain a small lead before they both began to break through.
"Clever!" Grant cheered as he began pumping his legs faster to try and catch up to Chris.
"That's my rookie!" Rinka smiled as she pushed her way through the sludge.
("Crap he's gaining on me again… will this guy ever let up?!" Chris complained as Grant began to catch up to him once more.
"Do not give up. That is all there really is to it. The most important lessons in life are just that simple my friend!" Grant explained as the two raced neck and neck towards the finish line, with Rinka right at their heels.
"This is going to be an extremely close match! Maybe even a photo finish!" The announcer shouted from above.
Chris began to feel a pang of nervousness. The finish line was coming up. Grant was keeping pace. He needed to do something quickly, something to slow Grant down just enough for Chris to cross the line.
Ring!
Chris looked at the sword Pokémon as a shadow began to reach forward and touch the edge of Grant's bike. The two began to near the finish line. Twenty feet. Fifteen feet. Ten feet. Grant began to struggle to push the pedals down, his speed slowing as they neared the line. Chris pushed just ahead. Eight feet. Grant seemed to snap past whatever blockade was occurring and the shadowy form began to retract into the sword. Four feet. Grant's jaw began to open to speak, but whatever noise was about to come from him was drowned out by the cheers from the crowd.
"Congratulations Christopher. You raced admirably. I'd stay to congratulate you more, however I must get back to open my gym. I'm afraid I've shirked my work for my racing pleasure a bit too much once again." Grant said with a smile.
"I'll join you. I'm not interested in gyms and all that crap, but I saw those fossil Pokémon. I'd like to see them at work." Chris responded.
"Gym crap?" Grant repeated with a somewhat bemused smirk. It wasn't everyday he saw someone quite so… honest with their opinions as the First Place winner of the Cyllage Race.
"Is the Gym Leader welcoming challengers at this time?" Sebastian asks as he approaches the gym's front doors.
"Sorry, kid, he's booked right now. But, hey, the challenger is welcoming onlookers, if you want to see a show."
The idea created a small spark in Sebastian's eyes. A chance to see Grant's battle style up close before their battle? He must. "That would be fantastic."
"Get in here, then." The guard opens the door for the trainer, along with his Hakkai the Mienfoo, who is currently carrying the baby Cubone on his back as a form of weight training. With an eagerness that rivals his trainer's, he scurries towards the arena.
"Sebastian, over here!" Avril waved as she spotted the familiar sight of the boy and his pokémon entering the gym.
The blonde was currently seated on some bleachers in the gym. Radar was currently nestled on her shoulder while Marble was seated close beside her. The Flaafy waved her arm, letting out a friendly bleat as she spotted Sebastian as well.
"Are you here to watch the battle too?" Avril inquired, offering the boy a bright smile.
"Avril…?" Sebastian blinked as he looked to the stands. Seems he's not the only one who wanted to see what Grant had to offer in person. With an uncertain smile, he returns the friendly wave of her Flaaffy. Beside him, the small Cubone stiffened, frantically looking around for that mean prankster ghost that had appeared last time they met with the nice blonde girl. His trembles were; however, quickly eased by what appeared to be encouraging words from Hakkai.
"We are." Sebastian nods as he makes his way closer to his fellow trainer, no use shouting from the bottom of the bottom of the bleachers. "It's good to see you again, Avril, Radar." Sebastian's eyes focused on the little bat. The Pokemon looks significantly calmer than the last time they were together...Lulu must be in her ball after all.
Laurent waved at the guard watching over the gym's entrance as he neared with Bernard at his side.
"Ah, hey there, Laurent. It's been a while, aye? Grant said you'd be by to watch this one, some sort of personal stake, I take it?"
"Something like that." Laurent responded. "I asked Grant to call me when she arrived." The guard nodded and ushered the young trainer inside where it took him only seconds to spot some familiar friends while looking for a good seat. "Ahoy, my friends!" He called out with an enthusiastic wave. "I see you've come to watch too, looking to learn a bit about Grant's battle style?"
Jackson stood at the back of the bleachers, having just stepped out from the back room with a new badge in hand. He saw the other gym hopefuls before him, he supposed it was a bout time for them to be challenging Grant as well. He took a moment to glance down at the Cliff Badge sitting on his palm, before sliding into his badge case. He heard the grating tone of Laurent's voice as he approached, but he was feeling rather... confident and reassured, one might say, so he decided not to intervene as he moved to speak to the other two.
"Avril... and Sebastian..." Jackson muttered to himself under his breath. "If they're both here, then that means..." He looked towards the arena, which was already just about finished being re-excavated by the Excadrill on reserve. "Kuzunoha, you're going after the hurdle I just cleared. I suppose it might be worth the time to watch." With Gaspar cackling in his shadow, Jackson made no announcement of his presence to the others... rather he sat himself down in the mostly empty bleachers at the back and curiously looked onwards over the arena he had fought in not more than twenty or so minutes ago.
"Taking the badge wasn't enough, you've come to overthrow my bleacher empire too?" Victoria smirks as the latest victor makes his way to the top of the stands, where she had been hiding out since before his battle began. Honestly, she's a bit relieved to have someone to speak to, she can't very well go down and sit with Avril while the shemale is standing there, chatting it up like they're old friends. Are they old friends? Why does Avril have such bad taste in friends?
"...who dahell are you?" Jackson asks plainly, shooting a questioning glare at the woman who suddenly appears. Gaspar too turns to gaze, his eyes manifesting upon his trainers shadow and glancing upwards. "Some empire... there's 5 people here."
...Okay, this guy isn't good with jokes, and while she could take the time to explain the bleachers are the empire, and there's a bunch of bleachers...eh, forget it. "Just call me V. It's not as pretentious as my full name." Avril knows her as Victoria, Sebastian knows her as Tiana, and while the police certainly have more important things to do than find some little Meowstic thief, she doesn't trust Shemale with that full name, which this guy could easily repeat back to their happy little group down there. Stupid men, get away from Avril. "You were pretty great down there." She adds after staring down at the happy horde for a good few seconds.
"I suppose I did alright... V." He adds the letter with a tone of bother and tiredness. Jackson never did do well with this sort of person, while he couldn't describe what it was about her that irked him, her demeanor her tone, the look in her eyes. It was mischievous, yet potentially dangerous. Jackson didn't know much but he knew people, he had vibes that he trusted more than first impressions and despite her compliments something in his gut was telling him that this girl was trouble. "Grant underestimated me. I doubt he'll do that again today, hopefully Kuzunoha is able to overcome him."
"I'd say you did better than alright, winning with a disadvantage and all." Victoria didn't know if she was going to take on this gym, she didn't much like going into battles she didn't stand a chance of winning. This guy's Pokemon were huge, and she has no real advantages, like she did with that bug lady. She knows she isn't taking her Torracat against two rock types, but this guy...he pulled it off. She turns her attention back to the obviously dyed blond and relaxes her shoulders. She feels at ease around this guy, probably because he gives off the same vibe as her vigilantes back in Snowpoint, though she isn't blind, she can see she's bothering him. Sadly vibes don't go both ways. "Well, enjoy the show. Come by if you want a snack." She waves as she makes her way back to the Liepard and Glameow sitting on the other side of the stands.
Jackson raised an eyebrow as the woman walked away. He watched her go idly and wondered if his exhaustion contributed to him being so flippant with her, but in the end he supposed that didn't matter. Something told him he might run into her again, but for the time being he wasn't in the mood to mingle with his old classmates, let alone someone he had just met. "Maybe she's not so bad..." He mumbles sitting back as Emma finally took to the stage. "...but for now, I suppose there are more pressing matters... right Emma?"
Emma stood at the opposite end of the stage food, raised a few feet in the air. She felt it fascinating, as this rocky gym was completely different from Viola's Bug-styled Gym. She locked eyes with Grant, who stood the opposite end of her. "I've been waiting for you, Detective!" Grant greeted her. "I've seen all your accomplishments, as you know. I hope you won't disappoint me. You and Laurel."
"Of course," Emma responded, adjusting her tie. "I've been fighting all sorts of powerful opponents during my cases. My pokemon are strong. You'll see that firsthand!"
"I see! But tell me, Emma," Grant started. "Do you know my favourite thing to do, other than rock climb? Its to play a good game of chess. In this world, I'd say you're like a knight. Quite better than I, a pawn." Emma gave him an intrigued look as he chuckled. "...Do you know who the king is?"
"The... king?" Emma questioned. "I'm... afraid I don't understand. Wouldn't that be... a champion? Or something?"
"Yeah... that's what I thought at first too, but that's not it," Grant explained. "Oh well. You'll probably figure it out, by the end of this battle, knowing how smart you are. Now then! What say you: wanna battle singles... or doubles?"
"Either way, it will be a tough fight..." Emma replied in thought. She mulled over possibilities. Perhaps it would be smarter to take them on one at a time, but... "Lets go with a double battle. I want to gain experience in that forte, if you don't mind."
"Alright! Here's to an epic battle!" Grant cheered. "Let's put on a show for your fanclub spectators too."
"...Spectators?" Emma asked. She looked above the spectator stands until... she saw them. The people she knew all too well. "...Guys? Huh. I guess I'm sort of their lab rat as they scope the competition..."
Grant shrugged as he took out his two pokemon. "Meet... Aurorus, and Tyrantrum! The strongest Rock-type pokemon in Kalos!" He threw both his pokemon to the battlefield, as two enormus dinosaur-like pokemon appeared. They both let loose a tremendous roar that even shook the rocky field. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Very!" Emma replied. She got out two pokemon of her own. "Let's get one thing straight though - right now, I'm not a detective. I'm a pokemon trainer in my own right! These are my partners, Kagura and Titania!" she threw her own set of pokemon to the field, one her nimble Lucario, and another... a Milotic that covered the battlefield in a delightful elegant sparkle.
"She's got this." Sebastian smirks ever so slightly. Her Pokemon are perfectly suited for such a match: Lucario and Milotic, both such powerful Pokemon in their own right, combined with Emma's skill, this will be an amazing spectacle.
"Foo! Mien, foo!" Hakkai calls out to its fellow Fighting type, thrusting its fist into the air in a triumphant motion.
Laurent smiled wide at the sight of Titania, feeling a small amount of personal pride at her use in the battle. "Put up a good fight, Grant, I want to see everything both of you has to offer."
"Hm! Not bad at all. A water type, and a fighting type, a good match-up against rock types! The last challenger I had faced me with a fire-type, but it looks like you're sticking to the basics," Grant observed. "Right, you get the first move."
"Kagura - Aura Sphere on Aurorus!" Emma called out. Her Lucario leaped forward.", charging aura energy at the base of her two palms, then releasing it towards the icy dinosaur. Since it was a fighting-type move, it's sure to be very effective against an ice and rock type.
"Light Screen!" Grant commanded his Aurorus. A yellow-coloured barrier started to form around the two rock-types, as the Aura Sphere attack fizzled out against it, hardly doing much damage at all. "Now, use hail!" his Aurorus roarred towards the celing, creating a black cloud overhead the gym. It then all of a sudden, started hailing ice-packets that pelted each of the pokemon, but Aurorus remained uneffected.
"That's quite reckless..." Emma remarked. "Won't that hurt your Tyrantrum as well?"
"I wouldn't worry about him, if I were you," Grant warned. "Tyrantrum has been in countless battles with Aurorus. This sort of thing makes him more motivated. Tyrantrum let loose a loud roar, awaiting orders. "Thunder Fang on Milotic!" Tyrantrum gallloped and stormed across the rocky field, preparing an electrical jaw-attack to the serpentine pokemon.
"Okay Titania, blow it back with Twister!" Emma responded, with Milotic using the tips of her tail to unleash a powerful Twister attack, but was also interupted by the earlier light-screen. Continuing to charge forward, Tyrantrum eventually found his mark, biting down on Titania's tail, as Titania let loose a cry of pain as the electrical discharge coursed through it. "Damn... that Light Screen is going to cause trouble..." Emma observed. "Their most powerful moves can't get through..."
"Aurorus! Ancient Power!" Grant then shouted. Aurorus body glowed a distinct green, letting loose a barrage of multi-coloured rocks to his foe. Kagura made a battle stance, punching and kicking away the attack with her sheerr fighting technique. Meanwhile, Titania eventually mustered the strength to shake Tyrantrum away. It then used her simple tackle attack, blowing it back further a few feet.
"That's right, if special attacks won't work... then we'll use physical moves!" Emma stated. "Kagura, Force Palm on Tyrantrum!" Kagura leaped forward, trying her best to meave through the treacherous footing. Tyrantrum used its advantage to weave through the battlefield, to counter Kagura's attack with another jaw attack. Kagura saw the threat coming, trying to force back her t-rex pokemon foe by trying to hold his mouth to prevent it from biting on to Kagura. Kagura kew she was eventually going to be overpowered however, so she leaped back before her foe closed its jaw. Tyrantrum rushed forward once more.
"Dragon Tail!" Grant called out. His pokemon's tail started to glow a vibrant emerald green, as he rushed to Kagura, snapping her tail to her. Kagura tried to block it with her right forearm, but was quickly pushed and blown away by Tyrantum's sheer power. She landed on her back, but eventually managed to get back up.
"Quick! Dragon Tail on Tyrantrum!" Emma ordered Titania. Titania charged in, with her tail also glowing a vibrant green right towards the Tyrantrum who was still recovering from his last move.
"Mist!" Grant retaliated. His Aurorus summoned a thick light blue thick puff of smoke that covered the battlefield. Titania was taken back, unclear to where to strike her attack. Emma looked on, unconcerned.
"I hope you're not pegging me as some sort of rank amateur sir," said Emma. "My Lucario has the power to see a Pokemon aura, no matter how well they would conceal themselves!"
"True," Grant said bracingly. "However, can they detect and counter act one of our signature moves? Double Ancientpower attack!" His two Pokemon summoned a barrage of multicoloured boulders, hurled towards Emma's two Pokemon under the cover of the mist. However, Emma was prepared.
"We'll use a double attack of our own then!" Emma decided. "Titania, Twister! Kagura, use copycat to copy Twister!" The two Pokemon did as instructed, with Titania using her tail to unleash a powerful twister attack, and Kagura glowing a royal blue hue as it used copycat to copy Titania's Twister attack, for a double twister combo. The two fierce wind attack bonded as one, blowing away the mist, and counteracting the ancientpower barrage, sending them flying as well. The attack eventually reached the two dinosaur Pokemon, only for the attack to be blocked by their Light Screen.
"As long as Light Screen remains in play, your special attacks won't do much of anything," Grant reminded. "You should know all about that, yeah?"
"I do," Emma replied. However, this was all according to plan. "And I know all about the special properties about it too!" she then readied herself. "Titania, keep up the twister! Kagura, head straight in the vortex!" Kagura obeyed, to Grants suprise, as she jumped right inside Titania's twister attack. Kagura was spent spinning inside, as she was hurling right towards the enemy two Pokemon. It was then Grant finally caught on. The light screen remained visible, blocking the twister. "Now, use force palm!" Emma's Lucario stuck out her paw, pressing on the Light Screen with force the moment it came in contact with it. By using the expansive blast from the move, the Light Screen shattered, as Kagura backflipped away from the impact.
Grant clapped. "Impressive!" He praised. "So that was your plan..."
Emma nodded. "I knew that Light Screen remained invisible during battle. But, if the opponent were to use any special move, Light Screen became visible and tangible as long as the attack came in contact with it," Emma explained. "So, I used the continued pressure of Titania's twister attack to keep the Light Screen up at bay, as Kagura went inside her attack for a dual offense."
"...And by using the rotation given by the twister, Lucario's power increased, exerting enough force to shatter the Light Screen, huh?" Grant grasped, with a chuckle. "Well, that's a detective for ya'! Your deductions are supurb..." He then gave a gentle smile. "Yes... like a game of chess, this is why you're a knight. You have power, and the means to protect our king..."
"To protect our king..." Emma repeated. She stood in thought for a while. Then... she finally realized. The king. "...So thats who the king is..."
"Figured it out at last?" Grant asked. "Well, I suppose we'll find out. From here on, no more holding back!" Grant grabbed hold of his shirt, taking if off and throwing it across the field. He crossed with arms, seemingly renewed. "Tyrantrum! It's time for Tri-Fang!"
"...Tri-fang?" Emma wondered. It was then she saw it: Tyrantrum glowed red, a vibrant yellow, then blue. Flames, sparks of electricity, and freezing ice sparkles coursed throughout his body as he opened his jaw. The three powers combined to his teeth, creating a potent, powerful combination. "Amazing control..."
"This is our ultimate technique..." explained a confident Grant. "The fusion of fire, lightning, and ice... the Tri-fang technique! Last time, I underestimated the last challenger and didn't use this technique to the best of my abilities. But not this time. Tyrantrum! It's time to attack!" His Tyrantrum roared as he raced across the battlefield, preparing to skirmish with Emma's Pokemon.
That's right... I have to keep getting stronger to protect our king, she thought to herself. Even against overwhelming power like this... I have to keep fighting full on with my own power... and with my family Pokemon power. It's so obvious... she then gave a confident smile of her own. "You'll see how strong we are! Kagura, it's time for our new move!" Kagura nodded as she charged forward. She put out both her palms in front of her, preparing something.
"We won't let you! Aurorus, Hyper Beam!" Grant shouted, his Aurorus unleashing a strong beam of frost, right towards Emma's Pokemon.
"Titania, use twister towards the battlefield!" Emma responded. Her Milotic stuck her tail towards the stones on the ground, as she unleashed her Twister attack from the bottom of the ground, right towards the Hyper Beam. The twister got mixed in with dirt, dust, and quite a few stones, creating a mixture of even more power, as the two attacks were deadlocked with seemingly even strength.
Meanwhile, Kagura's new attack was ready. She created a light blue coloured bone-shaped staff in front of her, as she then twirled it around as she ran. It was Kagura's new move: Bone Rush! Kagura and Tyrantrum skirmished at last, as Tyrantrum tried to land a precise bite to Kagura. Kagura hopped and dodged, evading his attacks, as she tried to strike with her staff against him. Tyrantrum managed to duck and weave, evading Kagura's attacks as well. Soon Tyrantrum mixes his attacks, striking with his tail as well, with Kagura blocking with her staff. Eventually he saw an opening, to attack with Tri-fang. Kagura clasped her staff in between his teeth however, as the two were locked in a contest of strength. Emma looked on.
"...I'll defeat you and grow ever stronger, sir Grant," Emma softly stated. "We will. To protect... our king!" Soon, Titania felt a strange burst of energy. She cried out as she eventually gave her attack more force, pushing back Aurorus's Hyper Beam. The move eventually made its way to the Aurorus, striking against it directly with a powerful blast. Kagura meanwhile, gathered her speed to seize her bone rush staff away, then using it to strike Tyrantrum's legs. Tyrantrum cried out in pain as it toppled to one knee, as Kagura jumped up, doing a backflip as it used its Aura Sphere straight into Tyrantrum's mouth. The attack collided, becoming mixed with fire, electricity, and ice as it caused a mini explosion.
There became a black cloud of smoke, as Kagura landed on her feet, next to Titania. The smoke soon cleared. Tyrantrum and Aurorus came to view... seemingly unconscious. They were both defeated. Grant stood in disbelief, but... he gave a smile. "You beat me," he told Emma. "Well done, Emma."
"The slightest miscalculation meant my own defeat could of been around the corner," Emma explained. "But that comes to show, that's how strong you are, sir Grant. Thank you for the battle!"
"No Emma, I simply lost to the stronger trainer," Grant explained as he cut around the stage where he stood, past the bleachers and over to Emma. He then got out two items from his pocket. "As such, I hereby award you with the Cliff badge! And my personal favourite move: the Ancientpower TM. I hope it serves you well in your work," Emma accepted the items giving a bow to Grant. Grant then crossed his arms, giving Emma gratifying look. "So tell me. Have you figured out who the king is?"
"Yes..." Emma replied with a small smile. She glanced towards to her fellow trainers who were watching the battle, then back to the Cliff badge, that gleamed with the light as it rested on Emma's palm. "...The children of the next generation."
Grant gave a simple nod. "So you do understand."
Avril glanced over towards Laurent and Sebastian. "Do... either of you have any idea what's they're talking about?"
"Knowing Grant, I think I do." Laurent replied vaguely, applauding Emma's victory with an even tempo. "Bravo, Emma, Bravo!"
"Thanks for the explanation," Avril replied, rolling her eyes at Laurent's rather lackluster response.
"At the beginning of the match, they discussed who the King would be, in this metaphorical chess game of life." Sebastian explained with a warm smile, before politely clapping for Emma's victory. "Excellently done, Emma."
Avril really didn't get it, but she began to clap for Emma anyways. Regardless if she grasped the true meaning of the conversation being held between Grant and her best friend, the detective had still managed an impressive win. She could only hope that things would go just as smoothly for her when she took her turn against the gym leader.
NEW EVENTS!
Recieved the Cliff Badge!
Recieved a TM: Ancientpower!
Jackson slid out the front door of the Cyllage City gym unawares to those inside as Emma dealt the decisive blow against Grant. He supposed it was nice to still have active and capable competition... and this meant that he wouldn't have to deal with one of his... "friends"... emotional breakdowns of the day. Avril was there as well so he had to assume that they'd come to some sort of workaround for their bickering and banter. She looked different, better, he was glad to see that she was doing-
Ugh, he couldn't even finish his thought.
Now that he was more certain of himself, now that his gaze was firmly set upon the Pokémon League again, he was coming to realize that he had been going soft. He had gotten far too close to those around him when he had to remember that his objective was to win the league and pay for his sisters treatment. Nothing else mattered.
As he walked the rugged streets of Cyllage city... He found himself looking out calmly over the waves of the ocean beyond the pier. The water lapped and the waves crashed over one another in a certain harmony that helped to put his mind at ease. As if drawn there he walked down the rocky paths and tarmac roads of the Eastern side of Cyllage towards the beach based Western City.
It didn't take him long to arrive as he stood upon the sandy shores, all of his pokémon in their balls bar Petal and Wave, the latter of which was flying in the sky far above.
The small grass type pokémon hadn't been with Jackson for long... and while she had engaged in a small modicum of training with her new trainer, she wouldn't have been much use in the now completed gym battle. Rather, she enjoyed just sitting on his shoulder, her small leaves swaying slightly in the ocean breeze. It really was rather enrapturing, huddled against the head of a human as her wide eyes looked out over the gently threshing waters. This had been so close to her home, yet she had never followed the river to see it. Was this why trainer's pokémon were always so happy? Because they got to see things like this?
As she gazed curiously at the calm smile on her trainer's face she wasn't so sure that was all there was to it. She hadn't known Jackson for very long, in essence he had only stepped in as her caretaker via happenstance, yet even she had to admit there was an odd bond between him, all of his other pokémon and her. She felt a strange aura of pride encompass all of them as Jackson found himself overcoming a milestone in his life... and while it was all still a little alien to her, she quickly found herself taking comfort in the feeling as well.
"See somethin' y'like?" Jackson commented, one eye cracked open to look back at the staring Petal, whom flushed horrendously and would have fallen off of Jackson to the sand below had he not caught her. He held her tiny form to look out at the afternoon sun and she did her best to overcome her embarrassment. "It's not like this up in Sinnoh little Petal..." Her trainer mused. "It's always colder and the sun never seems to be quite as bright. Y'know it sounds kinda worse when I put it like tha'... but there's somethin' kinda nostalgic about it too y'know? This... is beautiful yeah... but I can't help but think of where I grew up sometimes, miseravle as it was it had its upsides and charms." He chuckled and she found herself looking up at him again. "Anyway, I've had my little thoughtful moment yeah? Time to go back in the ball." He grinned as she began to protest, but before she got a single squeak in the red light of the pokéball enveloped her and Jackson had the now full container re-attached to his belt.
"...Arceus above, it's true. You exist."
Jackson turned suddenly to the human voice interrupting his train of thought. Standing before him was an odd figure, dressed in a black suit like outfit, tailored to be more flexible by the looks of it, but not sacrificing anything in terms of style. The outfit was accented with red flair and this was only fitting when compared to the hair of the individual speaking to him. His short red hair was styles and well kept, a few strands of it hung over what was almost certainly the most unnerving part of the man whom now approached him.
A solid black and red mask with goggles, completely obscuring his face.
"All this time... and he lied to me. All this time and he hid you away from me. All this time he knew... and he didn't tell me. Even now, his selfishness knows no bounds." The man continued, a sorrowful tone taking over his voice.
"What... who dahell are you...? I'm pretty sure you got the wrong guy here bud. I don't know you or, I'm pretty sure, whoever you're ravin' on about." Jackson mumbled, his brow furrowing as he stared with a certain uneasiness at the individual before him. He seemed almost familiar to Jackson, yet not at all. The way he stood, his posture, his build, his voice... they sent warning signals off in his mind.
"It's alright, you don't need to pretend anymore... He has no control over us here." The man continued, taking a step forward and outstretching his hand, to which Jackson instinctively stepped back, reaching for a pokéball at his belt. "I told you... I have no idea what the fuck you're talkin' about. Now back off before I get serious."
The man froze, before slowly relaxing back into a standing position. "There can be no more doubt, even as you take a stance to fight... you look just like him." He paused, running a hand slowly through his hair. "Yet, you truly have no idea don't you? I can see it in your eyes, you aren't lying B-" He paused, his head angling slightly as he looked hard at the ground. "Jackson, that is your name isn't it? I see..."
"Alright that's enough!" Jackson growled taking a step forward. "You know my name sure but I don't know who you are or what you want! Now I'm gettin' freaked out here man so stop being so fuckin' vague! Who dahell are you?! Who is 'him'?"
Without missing a beat, the man answered the second question as if it was nothing.
"He is your father."
Jackson froze in place, staring wide eyes in shock at the mask clad individual before him. The words that he had just been told rang like sirens in his ears, repeating over and over, exploding with more questions and precious few answers. For a moment he forgot what the word even meant. "F-Father...? My father?!" Jackson repeated, his anger growing to overwhelming levels.
"I'm sorry, but it seems that you were telling the truth. Trust me when I tell you that the truth is best left unheard." Jackson tried to move forward, but before he could the massive fore of beating wings caused him to stumble backwards, falling into the sand as a pair of jet black plumes extended from behind the masked mans back.
"Hoooonch!" As if it had been there the entire time a Honchkrow spread its form outward and gripped onto the mysterious individuals back, lifting him skyward and immediately bringing him into the air. "I am sorry it has to be this way... Mr. Crane!" The individual called out through his mask and the billowing winds. "I understand I have left you with much to think about but I beg you... forget your past, forget me! You are better off without it!"
And with another burst of speed he bolted off towards the rocky East, leaving Jackson shaken and gripping the sand beneath himself in clenched fists.
"... it won't be that easy you son of a bitch."
***
As the masked man started to soar gently through the sky, Honchkrow gripping his back and facilitating his movement... he felt a small pang of regret. Should he have told B... no, Jackson... should he have told Jackson the truth? It had been so hard for him to accept when he had first found out, the fact that he existed at all would have served as a shock to Jackson in itself, but beyond that? He just wasn't sure he could do that to him.
Nobody deserved the legacy he would have to carry.
The masked man himself didn't deserve that burden but he would gladly shoulder it alone.
Besides, it was already done. There was no use dwelling on it now. The sky was clear and his business was finished, all that was left was to fly back home and inform the others that the operation was bust. This secret heir didn't exist, they were fools to come here following a wild goose chase. It was time to head home and-
"HEY ASSHOLE! SHOW ME YOUR FACE!"
The masked man turned just in time to catch the flying fist of Jackson, which cracked into his goggled with a shattering crack. The orange tinted glass broke away over his left eye, revealing his grey colored orb as it stared hard at the blonde haired young man whom had somehow followed him to the sky.
"A-A Crobat?! That's impossible... he's only two gyms in! It took me- urk!"
With a sudden use of the move "Fly" on instinct, the Masked Man's thoughts were yanked painfully aside as in a bid to protect his trainer Honchkrow darted away from Jackson and Wave with increased speed and aerial prowess.
"You idiot! We're on the side of a mountain! If one of us falls we die!" He cried out to the now rapidly pursuing trainer.
"Glad y'realize you shit! Hand over the mask and that won't have t'happen!" Using her far superior speed and by creating her own air displacing slipstream using Razor Wind, Wave was not only able to close the distance between her and Honchkrow, but to run circles around him and his mysterious masked trainer. They had them exactly where they wanted him.
With a roar, Jackson swiped through the air, attempting to grab the mask that hid away the identity of this man with the answers to his past.
He didn't know who this guy was, but if he claimed to know something about Jackson's parents... if there was a chance that Jackson could find out where it was he had come from, if he could find out the truth behind his arriving at that Veilstone orphanage as a newborn baby...
Then nothing was going to stop him.
However, as desperate as he was to learn the mans identity... he was just as desperate to keep it a secret. Raising his arms and deftly tossing Jackson aside in defense, the stranger kicked Jackson hard in the back as he soared passed. He could fight, was all the other man could think as the wind was swiftly expelled from his lungs. Wave struggled, but gripped with all the force her claws would allow into Jackson's shoulders, keeping him in her grip and righting herself and him into a ready position.
Yet when they turned the Masked Man was already a solid 30 feet up the mountain compared to where they had been previously.
"Coward!" Jackson roared, as he pursued him doggedly, gritting his teeth as his words and actions pushed Wave to fly ever faster, bordering on speeds that would be painful to a human such as he.
"Jackson just listen!" The man called out, his voice echoing down the rocky outcropping for just a moment as he took but a brief second to turn.
"NO!" Jackson screamed, the air blasting past his face and cutting into him slightly as he rushed up to the Masked Man's level, the second of hesitation being all Wave needed to fully close the distance with a sudden burst of swiftness. "How about you listen! I don't care who you are... I don't care how bad you think it might be... but my family...!"
He reached out desperately one more time, getting a solid grip of the black and red mask in my hand. "Is my business!" With a snap the elastic cord holding the mask in place was ripped loose... and as if in slow motion Jackson watched as the mask was torn free and he saw the face of a young man looking back at him, no more than a few years older than Jackson himself. His shimmering intelligent eyes shone with a grey hue in the days sunlight, his features were stern yet fair and as he recoiled the sneer on his lip was painfully familiar to one Jackson knew all too well.
He hadn't... known what to expect really, but it certainly wasn't this. While the differences were certainly there, Jackson couldn't deny what he saw.
"You look... like me...?"
KRAKOOM!
By Arceus' own hand, the encounter was suddenly interrupted as the ground down below burst open with a sudden rift of stone being torn asunder in the center of the road below. A woman's scream could be heard and Jackson couldn't help but find it familiar as for a moment he turned to face the carnage below. A massive serpent of stone rose its head from the Earth, cresting its rock head against the rays of light, the spike upon its crown acting as a dais against the blistering heat, an imposing shadow falling in its wake.
"Dahell...?! What is that thing?!" Jackson quickly realized what was happening and turned to watch as the previously masked look alike took off towards the crest of the mountain. In anger, Jackson grit his teeth and prepared to pursue, but another cry from below caught his attention.
Turning his head back he watched as the dangerous rock pokémon took to the streets, roaring its defiance at any who got in its way, terrorizing innocents without the pokémon or strength to stand against it.
"Arceus.... DAMN IT! NEXT TIME YOU HEAR ME?!" Screaming in frustration and upset at the man whom was now long gone, Jackson plunged downwards with Wave, falling down towards the road below and grabbing for another pokéball fastened to his belt.
Spoiler:
BADGE CASE:
Spoiler:
INVENTORY:
1 x Pokédex
3 x Poké Ball
1 x Old Rod
1 x Metal Coat
1 x Black Holocaster
1 x Cinder Uniform
1 x Retractable Skates
With Renia gone to visit her mother, and ask the locals if they had seen any shady figures dragging around a blind Probopass, Sebastian was left to his own devices. As such, he began the search for a quiet cafe, where he could plan out his strategy for the town's gym along with his Pokemon. "Are you nervous?" He asks the fighting type jogging by his side.
"Foo!" Hakkai shakes his head. Since their last training session on route 8, the Mienfoo has been carrying the baby Cubone on his back, as a form of weight training. Hakkai knew how much Sebastian was counting on him to take down this rock themed gym, with over half of his team having a weakness to rock types, it was up to him...and maybe Fiore, if he really needed help (he wouldn't need any help).
"Well said." The trainer offers a kind smile as they cross the street. "The Pokedex cafe. This is the place."
"Stop!" A man in a lab coat shouts as Sebastian reaches for the door. He rushes forward, and upon reaching the redhead, Sebastian recognizes him as one of Sycamore's aides. "Don't go in there!"
"I'm...sorry?" Sebastian blinks.
"You will be if you walk through that door." The man heaves a sigh of relief. "This place isn't a cafe anymore, it's a glorified gambling right." The man cringes as he speaks. "The owner's taking Pokemon away from people who lose to him in battle. Oh...I knew he was no good, but Sycamore thought he could get through to him…" The aide trails off, apparently forgetting Sebastian was there, as he continues to mumble to himself.
After a chance encounter with Avril, Drew was feeling a hell of alot better about his decision to continue his journey. Even the most capable of trainers had slip ups no matter how good they were with their pokemon. Not to mention, Newt's sacrifice would have been in vein. If Avril had quit when Anise left...he shook head. The amount of time he'd spent thinking over the encounter was starting to scare him. He was happy to have Avril as a friend but...he shook his head again. "I need a distraction." Drew sighed, glancing down to his Quilladin.
"Quilla." The pokemon groaned in agreement. Brycen had had a tough break himself. Forget love, how was he ever supposed to work with the incompetent Scraggy Drew had had recruited onto the team. First he incessantly challenged him, then he fell pathetically to the Skarmory, that was followed up by his idiotic mistake showboating against the fire type pokemon in glittering cave...then the beach fiasco. He'd had it up to his neck with the moron. Pokemon League champions was a far cry if that was the best they could get on the squad.
The sound of hooves frantically smashing into cobblestone could be heard, growing louder and louder. "Excuse me!" Followed the voice of a familiar pink haired girl, hurriedly galloping down the street upon her Rapidash. There was an intensity in Renia's eyes, a fiery rage that could only be matched by her Pokemon's literal flaming mane. The majestic horse galloped by Drew and Brycen without taking note of them: they are on a mission.
The rapidash's resolute and unyielding hurtling caused Drew to scramble out of his its way before he could even attempt to acknowledge the fact he recognised the rider. He was surprised, and even slightly disappointed that the girl hadnt stopped to say hi. She seemed so personable when they first met. Then again, Drew could definitely feel a sense of a temper under her welcoming and inquisitive attitude. Maybe something had pissed her off. If that was the case, he didnt want to be anywhere near that.On the other hand, he was supposed to be looking for Seb, so maybe thats where she was going to? With a defeated sigh, the boy followed the dusty trail created by the stomping hooves of the Rapidash.
"Shouldn't someone go in there to shut this down?" Sebastian asked the aide.
"Of course, I've contacted the local police, but with this Cinder business…" The man is cut off by the sound of thundering hooves, as a fireball rushes towards the duo, only to come to a very sudden halt beside the cafe's doors. Familiar pink hair dances through the air as Renia dismounts, rushing for the door without so much as a blink of acknowledgement. Did she...not see them?
"Renia!" Sebastian calls as the girl places her hand on the door handle, though she doesn't seem to hear him. She swings the door open and strides inside with a frightening intensity. The door slams forcefully shut behind her, and both the aide and Sebastian cringe.
"Where's the jerk that runs this place?!" The voice cries out so loud that the closed door does little to quiet it.
From one of the central booths of the cafe came a rather tall teen. He wore a confident, even arrogant demeanour, which was complimented perfectly by his leather jacket and grey jeans. He didnt seem to care about how arrogant he may have seemed, even going so far as to keep a toothpick in his mouth. "I run this place now." He grinned confidently at the girl, despite the intense rage in her eyes. "Who the hell are you anyway?"
"Renia. You stole my friend's Gothitelle, and I've come to get it back!" She glares as she reaches for one of her Pokeballs.
"She doesn't know what she's getting into…" The aide cringes.
"Then go get help." Sebastian declares calmly as he once more opens the door. The man he sees upon entering is enough to give him pause.
Flashback
It was a late winter's night; the academy students had just finished exams, and were throwing a small celebration for themselves before their winter break began. Sebastian and Alice were sitting at one of the patio tables with a box of pizza and a pad full of little action doodles drawn by the two of them. The majority of the other students had slid away from the tables, dancing, playing some kind of volleyball type game, or attempting to sneak a caig by the tutors. All except...Brandon.
The boy towered towards the duo, winking at Alice with a toothy grin. "Hey, Alice, let's go dance."
Alice looked up to the thug, her eyes darting to the dance scene, taking note of a few students grinding against one another. The sight made her roll her eyes. "No, thanks, I'm good." She offered a semi-authentic smile before turning back to her doodle of a ninja fighting a pirate.
That should have been the end of it, and yet the brutish man reaches down and grabs the girl's wrist. "C'mon, it'll be fun."
Alice drops her pencil from the sudden surprise of being grabbed. "Hey!" She snaps. "I said no!"
"I heard you, but you gotta live a little!"
"Let. Her go." Sebastian, who had now risen from his chair growls as he reaches for the man's other wrist.
"Sebastian--" Alice's eyes fill with worry.
"Don't touch me, freak!" The thug jerks his arm upward, pulling Sebastian's along with him. A sickening popping sound fills the air as the sudden upward jolt jerks Sebastian's arm from its socket.
"HEY!" Alice screams as she stands, and chomps down on the man's upper arm with her teeth, which quickly caused him to let go.
"The ****--!"
"GO TO HELL." The tiny blonde delivers a sharp kick to the teen's knee cap, and when he bends down to shield his smashed knee, she kicks her abandoned chair to collide with his face. As the male teen crumbled, trying to keep the blood from pooling out of his face, Alice rushed to Sebastian. Fortunately, the Academy's nurse was no stranger to popping Sebastian's arm back into place...though she could do nothing to heal the pride of either young man.
End
Sebastian's eyes narrow to a dangerous level as he looks to the teen, still getting his joy from praying on those he considers less than him. Seems some things refuse to change.
Brandon glared at Renia. "There's only one way you're getting your pal's pokemon back girlie. If you got the balls of course." He smirked, tossing his own pokeball up and down.
"Plenty." Renia growls. She was reluctant to bring Rapidash into this place...just because the owner was a jerk didn't mean the entire place needed to burned down. Leaving Helios outside, she collects the rest of her Pokeballs, calling them out.
Sparky bursts forth, floating towards his trainer's shoulder, along with a Carbink and a glistening, pink Ribombee, while Asuna the Mienfoo and a Steenee take their places on the ground.
"All at once huh? Way to make it boring." The male teen sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm guessing I get all of these pokemon when I crush your dreams then. He tossed his own pokeballs: a Gurdurr, Darumaka, Dhelmise and Kingler all emerged. "So what makes you think you can do what all these chumps I've taken out already couldnt?" He chuckled, a derivitive tone encapsulating every word.
"Because Renia has been training for six years, and you...you're an academy dropout with a mere few months of experience." Sebastian's voice is calm, dark and dripping with Malice as he stares at the man before him.
"Sebastian…" Renia's burning anger dissipates for a brief second so she can smile at her friend, yet the anger quickly bursts back to life as she turns her attention back to Brandon. "Give me the stolen Pokemon, and we don't have to do this."
"Dont have to do this?" Brandon cackled. "I've always wanted a Rapidash. Plus that shiny bug could sell for some fine bucks." He smirked, turning his gaze to Sebastian, whom he hadnt bothered to even acknowledge upon his entrance. He smirked knowingly at the older trainer, whose arm he keenly remembered dislocating just over a year ago. Sebastian was an afterthought to him. He was at the academy, he would be in five years and he certainly was now. "Seeing Sebastian here makes this all add up. He needs women to fight his battles. You're probably more of a man than he'll ever be anyway." He smirked, puffing out his own chest.
"At least Sebastian graduated." Renia mutters under her breath. Even with her back turned to her friend, she can feel the anger rolling off of Sebastian in waves. She wants the stolen Pokemon back...but how they get them back...it doesn't matter. Beating this jerk into a paste, that...will mean more to Sebastian. Renia takes a step back. "Sebastian doesn't need me. In fact…" She glances to the pink Ribombee, who lets out an encouraging squeak. "I bet my Ribombee on it!"
Brandon had to know when he was beaten, he simply doesn't stand a chance against Renia. Conkeldurr and Kingler would fall easily to her Raichu, Darumaka to Carbink, Dhelmise to Rapidash. He'll take her bet, Sebastian is certain. Silently, calmly, he steps to the pink haired girl's side.
"I'll take the Ribonee, or whatever the **** it's called. Along with all of Sebastian's pokemon too." Brandon snarled confidently. "Sebastian graduated because he's a nerd. I dont need to know the name of every pokemon and the stupid items you let them hold to be the best in the world." He scoffed. With the older trainer stepping up, Brandon's attention switched to Sebastian. "So, you still chasing Alice like a lost furfrou these days?"
Renia's eyes widened at the mention of Alice. She was the girl that went missing, wasn't she? That Team Cinder might have…
"I'm surprised you can say her name without flinching, especially in a room full of chairs." If it was possible, that hateful look in Sebastian's eyes grew even darker as he stared the man down. It's almost a shame Chance isn't here to take a bite out of this fool for his remarks. Sebastian takes the Pokeballs from his belt loop and calls them forward, the way Renia had done before him.
"Clever. Have the loser brigade got themselves a writing team or something?" He scoffed at Sebastians weak response. He certainly wasnt here for a war of words. He was here for pokemon. His Darumaka and his Dhelmise were already two pokemon he'd won in this place amongst others. This hot streak of his ought to continue, especially against these push overs.
Drew found himself drawing closer to the cafe on foot. All this walking had Brycen regretting the face he'd tossed his pokeball, but all in all, Drew felt it was still nice to have his starter around. Even if he couldnt ride him to the cafe like Renia did with her Rapidash.
"Braiii…" Selkie growls as she inches closer to Sebastian, it seems she remembers this boy from Sebastian's tales of the academy.
"It hardly takes a writing team to outwit someone whose most clever remark involves genitalia." Sebastian speaks calmly as he places his hand atop Selkie's head.
Outside, Helios lets out a sharp whinny when he hears Drew approaching. He watched their last encounter from inside his Pokeball, Drew is a friend, he should know what's happening in there.
"Man, it's you." Drew gawked at the presence of the Rapidash before him. He had almost disbelieved what he saw. How was Renia so strong. She sure as hell didnt seem it. Brycen didnt seem so convinced, but he'd probably stare down Arceus thinking he stood a chance. With a reassuring smile to the pokemon, he stepped past and opened the door, instantly recognising the figure at the centre of the room. Brandon.A full two years of conflict and antagonism in Drew's life could easily have been pinned on this man. The boy glared through pained eyes as he remembered the sorts of things Brandon had put him through.
The bully glanced up as he noticed one of his favourite victims step into the building. He completely ignored Sebastian's quip, feigning a bored yawn. "Oh, the entire loser brigade has collected in one place."
"How the hell are you even here? There's no way you should have been given a pokemon after the Buizel incident." Drew huffed. "I mean, I'm not perfect, but there's no way a guy that causes permanent damage to pokemon in order to catch them deserves another chance." Drew spat, almost heaving at his own self righteous tone.
"He won't have them for long..." Renia scowls. "When he loses this battle, we're taking them back to their rightful owners." One way or another. If he doesn't surrender the Pokemon after the battle, they'll take them by force. Her Raichu can hold him hostage while they go find the rest of the Pokemon, if need be.
"For someone so seemingly eager to fight, you seem to be stalling." Sebastian muses as he looks the thug dead in the eyes. "Shall we begin?"
Brandon smirked in response to Sebastian's final jibe. That one at least had some sting to it. "Dhelmise, you're up first. Take out his ghost thing with shadow ball!"
"That's not fair!" Renia snaps. "You don't get to tell Sebastian who--" Her sentence is cut short when Sebastian holds his palm out, shaking his head.
"It's alright." He speaks quietly, his intense gaze then quickly turning to Ukyou. "Blow it back with Ominous Wind."
The ghostly ice maiden elegantly floats to the center of the room, summoning a dark, desolate gust that collides with the black energy, shoving it back in the direction it came from.
"Anchor shot!" Brandon's pokemon shot a steel anchor from it's body like a missile. The shadowy ball dissipated around the anchor, which carried it's momentum through dreary wind and hurtled toward the icy ghost.
"Double Team!" Sebastian called out quickly, and Ukyou complied by summoning a circle of clones in a circle. The Froslass that was pierced by the dangerous anchor vanished into nothing, as the rest floated in a circle around the enchanted seaweed. "Now, Ice Beam!"
The group of Froslass' each opened their mouths, calling forth powerful blasts of ice. Of course, only one of these beams was real, though it was nearly impossible to tell which from a glance.
The grass ghost recoiled in pain. Neither he, nor his trainer were quick enough to react to the attack in time. "Dhelmise, dodge next time, dammit!" Brandon barked in anger, causing the pokemon to flinch. "Fire another anchor shot! And ****ing hit it this time!"
Sebastian's calm expression falters when he cringes for the poor Dhelmise. They needed to finish this quickly so that poor thing could return to its trainer. "Fly higher, and use Icy Wind!"
The Froslass' float above the Dhelmise and summon a sparkling gust of frosty wind, which soars through the cafe, coating everything it touches in an icy glaze that will drop Dhelmise' speed considerably.
The Dhelmise was determined to avoid another scolding from its trainer. It floated around the cafe, trying to lead the Froslass' Icy Wind to hit everything except for itself.
With little desire to see this place obliterated, Sebastian decided to change tactics. "Ukyou, Will-O-Wisp!"
The Froslass' glide elegantly through the air, their eyes trained on Dhelmise, as a group of dark, haunted flames appear from their mouths, and descend upon the ghostly plant. Once more it's up to trainer and Pokemon to determine which is real, and from the looks of things...Brandon isn't quite bright enough.
"You cheap little ****." Brandon grumbled as his pokemon was burned by the real flame. "No problem, go for shadow ball again, end it early!"
"Spin, and use Ice Beam!" It's a shame, this battle wouldn't be so one sided if he put any effort at all into destroying the clones. The Froslass' begin spinning, the Shadowball destroying another fake as the rest of the Froslass' shoot another super effective bolt of ice towards the ghost.
Renia looks away, saddened that Dhelmise has to pay for a crime he didn't commit. When her eyes find Drew, they widen with curiosity...what had he said before…? "Drew, what did he do to that Buizel?"
Drew's concentration broke as he heard his name, gazing cluelessly at up Renia. "The Buizel?" He easily peiced together what the girl had asked him, without too much trouble. "Well...when I first started my journey, back when it was just me and my little Chespin partner." He began, glancing at Brycen as he mentioned his Chespin partner. "I ran into Brandon on the very first day. I found him breaking the leg of a baby Buizel so that it would be easier to catch." He winced again, a wave of remorse and nostalgia rushing over him. "I had to convince the mama Floatzel that I could help her kid, and take them both to Sanatlune. Really set my journey back, but if I hadnt..." He sighed, assuming Renia could put the rest of the pieces together.
The girl's eyes widen in complete horror at the image playing through her mind, the terror of the idea is so strong that Sparky's cheeks begin to crackle, only to be calmed as Renia tugs the floating mouse into her arms. "When Sebastian beats him...I'm going to break his legs." She grumbles. "See how he likes it…"
The boys eyes widened in the same shock and horror that Renia's had before his. He certainly wasnt brave enough to step in and stop her, but the threat was enough to cause him some concern. This wasnt the image on Renia he had in his head.
As soon as the words left Renia's mouth, the anger in her eyes faded into sadness, and she clung to her Raichu a little tighter. No, she could never hurt someone like that...even if he did deserve it. "Did...the Buizel make it to the center?" She asks, her tone full of sorrow. As she asked, she noticed Drew's expression turn from horrified, to surprised, to proud.
"Rai-rai!" Sparky raises his hand in congratulations at Drew's proud smile. That meant the Buizel was fine, right?
"...Good." Renia's expression returns to her usual smile. "Is...it with you?"
Drew's proud smile sunk into a frown as he remembered the predicament the pokemon had left him in. "Not quite. He went back to the wild with his mum. She was pretty adamant she could protect him best so...we couldnt tell her she was wrong." He sighed, wondering just what had become of the duo.
"I'd like to meet them. Maybe...if we go back there for something, you can show me their home?" She didn't want to impose, nor did she have any idea why a trainer would go back to Aquacorde...
"Yeah...I'd like that." Drew smiled back at Renia.
"Stop sulkin about that weak pokemon ya pansy!" Brandon shouted to Drew as he returned the fainted Dhelmise to its ball, the final ice beam being too much for him to handle. The teen rolled his eyes, tossing the pokeball in Seb's general direction. "I dont need weak pokemon on my team. If it's losing, it's first battle, it aint good enough." He glanced down at his Darumaka. "I'll turn to someone who's proven a little more reliable. Darukumaku, use punch that stupid ghost out of the sky!"
The pokemon quickly followed its order, encapsulating its fist in a ball of flame, before charging after the icy ghost.
A fire type will prove difficult for Ukyou, who quickly swooped down and picked up Dhelmise' Pokeball before the Darumaka took the stage. She lets out a happy cry as she tosses the ball to Renia for safe keeping.
"Ukyou, out of the way!" Sebastian cries as the fireball comes hurtling towards her. With a surprised cry, she flutters behind the fire type, just barely dodging his attack. "Ominous Wind!"
As Ukyou summons her ghostly gust, Sebastian feels a tiny weight against his shoe. He glances down to see Fay'lene, the Rockruff looking to him with determination. "You want to fight too, hm?"
"Then you'll get your chance now little dog." Brandon smirked, noticing the Rockruff. "Darukumaku, overheat!"
Again, following his trainer's order, the pokemon unleashed a power heat filled blast in all directions, completely nullifying the strong wind from behind him.
The flames were engulfing everything, and headed straight for the trainers as well. In a panic, Renia called out for her Carbink. "Luna, protect!"
The Stone rabbit hovered in front of Sebastian, creating a mystical energy that absorbed the flames from hitting Sebastian, or the trainers and Pokemon behind him. Ukyou, however…
"Ukyou, return." Sebastian ordered, holding the Pokeball outward after the flames ceased, but before the icy ghost hit the ground. "Ready, little one?"
The Rockruff barked loudly as she rushed towards their makeshift arena, her fur standing on end.
"Howl, then Rock Slide!" Sebastian called out, and Fay'lene lifted her head, letting out a melodic howl towards the sky, which grew louder in volume as her attack was raised. Rocks began forming around the small pup, which were frantically hurled at the fire type with the ever changing name.
"Dont let a single one of those rocks hit you! Use thrash to smash them before they can!" Brandon responded in turn. The pokemon promptly followed the order, smashing as many rocks as it could, before being hit by the last two. While it took significant damage from the attack, the pokemon hung on long enough to follow up with an attack of it's own. "Brick Break!" It raised its arm in the air, striking the pup with the side of its hand.
With no time to tell Fay'lene to dodge, Sebastian decided instead to use the close contact to his advantage. "Use Thunder Fang!"
The small wolf stopped herself from rolling backwards by chomping down on the arm that chopped into her, lightning sparking from her teeth and shooting through the fire type's body.
Yet again, Brandon watched in disgust as yet another of his pokemon fell to Sebastian's. **** 4v4! Timburr, destroy the rest of his team! Use mach punch on that stupid, stupid dog." Brandon growled, making no effort to hide his rage.
"When a man is angry, his movements become predictable. The more you predict his movements, the angrier he'll be. It's a vicious cycle you can use to your advantage."
Sebastian remembered how heavily his father stressed calmness on the battlefield, and watching Brandon makes him grateful for those lessons. What a fool his opponent appears to be… "Return." Sebastian calls Fay'lene back to her Pokeball before the punch can make contact; there's no reason to pit the rock wolf against a fighting type. He then cuts his gaze towards his Swanna, and with only a gentle nod between them, she takes to the air.
"Svana, Air Slash!" He calls, the white swan flapping her wings and creating two streaks of razor sharp gales, which shoot towards their opponent at a frantic pace.
The Gurdurr took the attack and staggered back, but stayed on his feet. By this point Brandon was completely irate. He glared daggers at Seb. "Rock slide! Again, and again, and again!" His pokemon followed the order without a moment of hesitation. A cavalcade of rocks began to tumble around the establishment, as he created more and more.
Drew acted quickly. "Bry, get in there." He demanded, with the Quilladin quickly jumping into action. Using his vines to break, or at least damage them before they hit the ground, Brycen was able to at least limit the damage done to the cafe. "Fire a Pin Missile!" On Drew's order, a pin missile came flying at the Gurdurr, putting a halt on his troublesome rockslides.
Renia smiles when she sees what Drew and Brycen are doing, and quickly jumps in to help. "Sparky, help them out with Psychic!" The rocks that weren't knocked back by Brycen's powerful moves were caught before they crashed into the tables and the floors, floating harmlessly to the side.
Meanwhile, Svana elegantly ascends and descends in the air in order to dodge the threatening rocks. Knowing that their next challenge would be a rock type specialist, both Swan and trainer had practiced for hours on end, learning how to best dodge such a threat. This is made considerably easier by the fact that each time the Gurdurr fires its attack, it, like its trainer, seems to be becoming more frustrated, its movements becoming more obvious. When Svana is hovering precisely over her opponent, Sebastian calls for another attack.
"Bubblebeam!"
Jets of air bubbles spew from the Pokemon's mouth, bombarding her opponent with powerful blasts.
The Gurdurr, far too busy struggling with the pin needle shot into its knee, took a barrage of bubbles from above. The pokemon barely managed to climb back to his feet after taking another cavalcade of shots. Before he could show any more sign of weakness, Gurdurr disappeared in a flash of red light, which led back to a very angry looking Brandon. "Tch, have your ****ty pokemon back. If they werent even able to beat this clan of weak ****s, what's even the point in keeping them?" He scoffed, tossing a bag from the booth he was sitting in. As the bag hit the ground, a pile of pokeballs all came rolling out. Brandon shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk toward the entrance behind the group.
"Hold it." Renia growls as she steps between the entrance and the brute. "How do we know that's all of them?" After everything he had done, all the pain he had caused so many trainers, he thinks he can just walk away? No way!
"We can check...what remains of the building." Sebastian looks around, taking note of the burned chairs from the overheat, and the crushed rocks from Gurdurr's first Rock Throw. Whoever took over this place once Brandon took off was going to need some serious carpentry skills.
"What? You want me to promise thats all of them or something?" Brandon sneered. "All the pokemon I stole are in that bag. Except one. I lost a battle and had to give one away. I had to give away a Scolipede away to some chick with a retarded probopass. Good luck finding her." He shrugged, before barging past Renia.
"A Probo-- wait!" Renia rushes in front of Brandon once more, her Raichu and Carbink floating along behind her. "What did the girl look like?"
"I'll give him credit for knowing when he's beaten…" Sebastian murmurs as he walks towards Drew and Brycen. Truly, he thought convincing the boy to give up would be a more difficult spectacle than the battle itself. He quickly flashes Brycen a grateful smile for helping to spare him from the falling rocks, before giving his full attention to Renia. If he hurts her...
"You've got five seconds to move out of my way. I'm not interested in standing around and hooking you up with...whatever it is you want from this." He spat back, glaring at Renia.
"Look, we've been looking for that Probopass for a long time. If you tell us what she looked like, we can go look for her, and leave you alone." Renia reasons. That's a good bargain, right?
Having significantly less faith in the thug's humanity than his pink haired companion, Sebastian's eyes narrow as he silently makes his way around one of the tables, inching closer to Brandon's backside. If he moves to hurt Renia, he'll be stopped.
Rather than shoving her, this time Brandon grabbed Renia's arm, this time physically moving her out of the way.
"Hey, let go of her!" Drew stepped forward, imposing himself as best he could. A short moment of him not listening led Drew to step forward himself. Despite his best effort, Drew was easily shoved to the ground by the aggreivated Brandon, who shifted the girl out him of his way and continued out of the building.
"Drew…!" Renia cuts a cold glare at the brute before rushing towards the boy on the ground.
Sebastian's eyes flared for a split second before narrowing once more. While Renia tended to the fallen Drew he reaches for the storming man's wrist, jerking Brandon's arm behind his back and shoving his wrist against his spine, contorting the wrist and arm ever so slightly. "Not another step."
Brandon sighed again as the redhead grabbed his arm. The assault was more irritating than anything else, but he resisted the urge to clock his former classmate then and there. "She had black hair, and she wore some sort of weird white aviator jacket. I dont remember much else, but she used a Krookodile, so she's no push over. Said she was going to take on the Cyllage City gym." As he finished speaking, he yanked his arm out from Sebastian and left the building without another word.
Sebastian's arm easily dropped to his side as the brute stomped away. From that angle, it wouldn't take much pressure at all to twist something out of joint...if he had merely held on when Brandon tried to jerk himself free, he could have severely damaged himself...there was no reason to stoop to such a low level. Not over someone so trivial.
Drew glared at Brandon as the older teen walked away. While he didnt want to get in Seb's way after the redhead showed him that courtesy on Versant Road, he felt a sense of disappointment that he couldnt be the one to take Brandon down. "I'm fine...been through a lot worse today." He sighed, giving Renia the most comforting smile he could muster. Watching that battle had made him realise just how long it had been since he was in a proper one versus one battle with another trainer. All the way back in Santalune against Viola. How far he'd come since then, and Brandon was somehow still getting the better of him. Even Seb managed to show Brandon up so easily. It was the first time he'd actually seen the older trainer battle despite all the times they'd run into each other. Then Renia. That Rapidash. He already knew she had a Raichu. With those two alone her team looked infinitely stronger than his own. Just how strong was she? He picked himself up and brushed himself off, watching the flaming horse intently. "Hey Renia...I know this might be a bad time, but I need you to do me a favour."
"And, by the way, it's pronounced Da-ru-ma-ka, jerk! -- And it's not a Timburr anymore!" Renia shouts as one final jab at the teen as he stomped off. They should really call the police on this guy, it's not right to let him just walk away...but if he really gave Harmony's Gothitelle back, and he's telling the truth about the Probo-bandit… she supposes that's enough for one day.
Her irate glare transforms to a pleasant smile as she turns on her toes towards Drew, finally registering that he's asked a question. "Sure! I owe you one. If Brycen hadn't stopped those rocks...we might all be squished."
Drew gave a half-hearted nod in response to Renia's words. While it was difficult to deny himself of that praise, he still couldnt shake that long time overbearing feeling that he was behind the others. It frustrated him. He clenched his fist, a determined glare crossing his face as he furrowed his brows. "I want you to battle me. A full match, with no handicap." He said sternly, a resolute determination showing that he wouldnt take no for an answer.
"O-oh." Renia blinks, surprised. Her eyes quickly dart to Helios, as Drew's had done beforehand. No handicap, so he wants her to use Helios and Sparky, who were with her when she went through the Kanto league. That's not exactly fair to him, even if it is what he wants...still, this seems very important to him. After several seconds of mental contemplation, she nods. "Okay! You're on!"
Kade pulled his Noctowl-themed hoodie tighter around his next as the sea breeze rolled in over Maurille Coast, the waves quietly lapping at the sandy shoreline. The sun was out and shining, but the wind still had a bit of a nip to it. The weather was fickle like that. It wasn't too bothersome though, and Kade was in a plenty good mood all things considered. Sure, he'd freaked out in front of Sky and the brothers and someone had put him in a life-or-death situation - but he'd been able to get things off his chest and was feeling a lot better about getting ever closer to Geosenge... plus he'd somehow obtained a secondhand flight saddle on accoun of the twins.
As it was, he was lazily strolling along the beach, at least until something caught his eye. Across the water the top of a mostly submerged, sandy island was visible. It was quite a way out, but Kade could just faintly make out what seemed to be a small stone structure of some kind.
"Odd, I wonder why that's all the way out there."
The ocean was beautiful as always. Watching the waves, Laurent couldn't resist breathing in a big whiff of the fresh sea breeze and letting out a contented sigh. "Training by the sea for now, and soon...home." Laurent's eyebrow raised when he caught sight of something breaking those very waves where he once thought there was only empty water and he stood up fully to get a better look.
"An island?" And it was, for the moment the tide had receded just enough to reveal a small nearby island. The island wasn't empty either, it had not only some foliage but something that looked distinctly artificial. Laurent released Metéo and smiled at it, eyes already filled with the spark of adventure.
Kade was looking over the altar, it was made of a blue stone he couldn't quite reconfise and somehow perfectly clean despite being out in the open. Kade wondered if during high tide the island was submerged and the water kept it clean or something. He'd very much have liked to have known what it was for, his curiosity piqued, however the only inscriptions on the stone were in a language he didn't even recognise let alone know how to read. A shimmering scale was loosely resting in a depression in the top.
"It's so pretty, shame I can't work out what it's for." he said to himself, turning to look out over the water which is when he noticed there seemed to be someone riding a Metang toward him. "I wonder if they know what this is."
Laurent shielded his eyes from the assault of salty wind on his eyes caused by the speed with which Metéoré was moving through the air. He couldn't believe he hadn't tried this sooner, it was so fun! Practical too! At first he had been merely thinking of holding on to his Metang while it flew accross the water but then he had a much more interesting idea. Laurent had a pair of steel-toed and heeled boots for the more rough bits of traveling, and Metang have not only psychic powers, but very potent control over magnetism. In the end it was actually a rather simple matter, a human was easily light enough for Metéo to securely clamp Laurent's feet to his head like magnet boots out of some science-fiction world with a mix of telekinesis and magnetic attraction. The trainer was able to simple stand atop his Metang with no worry of falling off - no need of awkward seating, holding on tight, or any sort of saddle - as it soared through the sky.
Another person could be seen to have already made landfall upon the small island and be examining a statue, the apparent source of the glimmer that had drawn Laurent's attention to the place to begin with. "Ho, there!" He called out to the young man as Metéo came to a stop by the statue, having to stop and maintain his balance until he felt the magnetic grip on his boots fully vanish before he stepped off the platform that was his robotic friend's head. "Greetings, you must have been curious abot this place as well, I take it? It's a wonder to be sure, I grew up in Cyllage and I don't remember hearing any tales that sounded anything like this aside from very vague stories of 'mirage islands' and the like. I can only imagine this statue was built by very early settlers of this area...early enough for the geography to have been very different from today."
"Oh that's interesting." Kade said "I was hoping you'd know about it, I guess you do a bit. You should probably bend your knees more when your Metang stops or you'll go flying off or break your legs or something. You look familiar." he continued on, glancing back over the altar every now and then. "Were you at the Trainer School?"
His words spoke of experience with flying, something that struck a chord in Laurent's mind. "I can't say I know much, I certainly haven't heard of this particular island, but I'm an avid student of history." Laurent's posture straightened at the young man's question. "Do you mean Aquacorde? If so, yes I was...ah! I knew that face and flight insight were something! You're Kade, aren't you?"
"That's right." Kade acknowledged, searching back through his mind to try and identify the new arrival. He definitely recongised him from the Trainer School when he thought on the matter. He certainly seemed memorable, he spoke much more eloquently than most of the other people he ran into. He could pretty much picture him during classes even. "Sorry, I remember you but I don't remember your name at all. I'm not very good with names and faces."
"It's no trouble at all!" Laurent assured him. "Frankly I've been astounded how few of our fellow Aquacorde students have remembered the others so far. To be honest, with a class as small as ours it seems a simple matter to me, but I digress. Laurent." He finished, bowing. "Laurent Hessel, ladies' man, gentleman extraordinaire, victor of the Santalune Pokémon Contest, Pokémon Troubadoure hoping one day to be champion of the Kalos region and, as I'm sure you've already decided for yourself, master of long-winded, pompous introductions." Laurent spoke with all his showmanship before ending the speech with a jovial chuckle at his own foolishness.
"I don't think that will all fit on a business card, you might need to shorten it if you become champion." Kade said, his tone doing a poor job of indicating if this was an uncharacteristic bout of wit or a legitimate statement. Before the issue could be raised however, Kade was examining the shimmering scale on top of the alter once more. If it were a feather he perhaps could have identified it, however fish and reptiles were far from his area of expertise. "Do you know what that is? It looks like some kind of scale, but I can't place it."
Laurent looked more closely at the large shimmering scale-like object atop the altar. "This is one part of this entire set-up that I have seen in a fair share of books. This is a Prism Scale. They're famous for their natural beauty, light that reflects off of them becomes an aurora of all the colors of the rainbow despite their lack of any crystalline structure, let alone actually being any sort of prism. It defies logic and most human knowledge on physics as far as I'm aware. They also allow the pokémon Feebas to tap into their inner beauty and synchronise it with their outer appearance, becoming the tender and beloved sea serpent Milotic."
Kade looked at the shimmering scale once more, now that Laurent had told him what it was he felt like he should have recognised it instantly. Of course it was a prism scale. What other kind of scale could possilby refract light in such a strange, breathtaking and seemingly impossible way? Kade found himself nodding in agreement with Laurent.
"Seems obvious now you've pointed it out. I've heard that nobody actually knows what the prism scales come from." Kade added "You'd think they just come from Milotic, but then Feebas would evolve every time they came into contact with one."
"There's something much more deeper to it than that..." Laurent mused. "I read once that in the Hoenn region where Feebas are most common it was thought that they evolved when they reached a certain level of beauty in spite of being considered ugly creatures by many people. Recently that seems to be an extremely rare occurrence, and now it is commonly accepted that Prism Scales are the true method of Feebas evolution..." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "This is a rare discovery...Clearly this island is untouched, and we're both well aware of how rare Prism Scales are...This can't just be ignored, we should explore this place but..." He found himself staring at the Prism Scale more and more as he spoke, eventually tearing his gaze from it to look at Kade.
"You were here just before me, you can more properly claim to be the discoverer of this island. Would you mind if...I took the scale? It seems likely to me that this island may simply sink back into the sea soon, and who knows when if ever it shall be seen again? This scale could be studied and...to be honest, Milotic is one of my favorite pokémon. They're so graceful, beautiful and noble...Even though they're powerful and so widely revered, they're so kind and gentle their official title is the 'Tender Pokémon'..." He let out a wistful sigh. "Oh how I'd love to befriend one of my own..."
"I guess." Kade shrugged, his indifference not feigned. He didn't really have any claim over the island, so who was he to deny Laurent access to something he needed to get a Pokemon he really liked? Besides, he certainly didn't have any use for it and the island very well could indeed be gone again in just a matter of hours.
Before Laurent even gave any sort of order, his body glowed and he floated up into the air, being startled for a few seconds before he realized what was happening and became acclimated. "Thank you, Metéo." The Metang saluted as Laurent leaned closer to the altar. "I recommend you keep one of your pokémon at the ready! There's one thing in common with nearly every story I've ever read about ancient ruins, both fictional and real!" Without further ado he plucked the scale and sank back down to the ground, holding it up and admiring it. "Excellent." He shoved the scale into a pocket just as the ground began to shake.
Both Laurent and Kade felt their bodies shaking along with the surface of the island as suddenly a spiralling torrent of water erupted out of the ground not far from them. A spray of beach sand flew into the air like a sandstorm, clouding the vision of the young trainers and stinging at their eyes and skin. The next instant, the guyser curved towards Kade and Laurent and hurtled towards them, crashing into the ground between them and releasing a water blast that sent the pair tumbling across the beach and dowsed the sand from the air.
Droplets fell down like rain as the maelstrom cleared, revealing a brown, insectoid Pokemon with simitar blades on the ends of its stick-like arms. Slightly larger than normal, the Kabutops gave a loud and fierce, hissing cry as it brandished its bladed arms.
"That, things like that are what I always read about in these kinds of stories." Laurent said, reaching for a pokéball on his belt and tossing it after he returned Metéo. "Go, Atlas!" The beam from the pokéball took shape into a Heracross, which buzzed with excitement and wiggled its horn in preparation to fight.
"Floccus, you too!" Kade said, releasing his Archen from its ball to join the fray. The Archen, jumped around hapiily and flapped its unflying wings enthusiastically, full of energy and raring to go no matter what it was out and about for. Seeing its fiersome fellow fossil Pokemon did nothing to sway its positive disposition either, it loved to battle.
"Alright, Atlas, start things off with Pin Missile!" Laurent called out to his Heracross, who dropped onto all fours and spread his wings as bristly, razor-sharp hairs sprung out of his back and wing plates. The hairs launched off of Atlas' body like a machinegun in a withering onslaught, replacing themselves as quickly as they fired off. The Kabutops stared grimly at its first opponent and non-chalantly smacked some of the projectiles away with a scyth-like arm before dashing perpendicular to its target, dodging most of the attacks and showing no signs of pain when it was hit.
The Kabutops continued forward, running towards Atlas and Floccus with long, powerful strides. As it closed the distance between itself and its opponents it leapt up into the air as a surging water encased its form. In the next instant, the water-cloaked fossil Pokemon was rocketing towards Atlas like a hydro-powered missile.
"Quick Guard, Floccus!" Kade called, his Archen happily bouncing into the air in a sideward flip, placing itself between the Heracross and its prehistoric brethren. Just before it took a super-effetive hit from the powerful Aqua Jet a faint orange barrier sprung into existence around it. The Kabutops collided with the shield, shattering it into glittering fragments as its attack was deflected. Floccus landed on the ground, exclaiming excitedly. "Follow it up with Rock Throw!"
A rocky sphere formed in the grasp of the Archen's wing claws before being hurled at the Kabutops at high speed. The attack collided with the Rock type, shattering on impact against its hard skin. The Kabutops shook off the rubble, unperturbed.
"Fury Ace, Atlas!" Atlas' wings beat rapidly at his trainer's command and he shot into the air towards the ancient guardian. The Kabutops dashed underneath the herculean beetle with shocking speed and charged straight towards Floccus. Atlas was prepared and changed direction, rapidly gaining on the feisty fossile pokémon with his horn angled down menacingly.
Kabutops managed to skid to a halt and pivot simultaneously to put up its guard and parry Atlas' horn, but momentum was on Atlas' side with such a hasty halt and Kabutops was staggered as rapidfire horn thrusts rained down upon it. The hits were weak and had a type disavantage, but there were enough of them to chip away at the Kabutops a bit before it began to block them again, as well as frustrate it. "Counter, Atlas!" In a blur the Kabutops' scythe slashed Atlas faster than he could possibly react, but he was sturdy enough to keep his footing and when the Kabutops' second slash came he leaned his shoulder into the hit and slugged the Kabutops right in the face, sending it flying through the air with double the power it struck the Heracross with as well as a type advantage.
The Kabutops went hurtling through the air, hit hard by the powerful Counter attack. However, it managed to turn its unwanted momentum into a flip, landing on its feet - although it staggered under the force of the attack it had sustained and sagged forward. For a short moment it seemed liked the powerful guardian may fall, but it quickly regained its composure. The Kabutops then brought its scythes together, grating them over each other as it parted them, causing them to start glowing a vivid blue. Kade watched the Pokemon carefully, caught off guard by its sudden increase in speed and the drop in its defenses, his memory of his recent PokeRinger battle and Sky's Skarmory suddenly coming to the forefront of his mind. Things suddenly felt unfortunately familiar.
"Oh that's not good." Kade said, turning to Laurent "It's got Weak Armour. every time we've hit it, it's defenses have gotten worse but it's gotten faster. Now it's gone and used Swords Dance. Basically, it's super fast and super powerful." As if to demonstrate Kade's point, the Kabutops suddenly drove its still glowing blades into the ground. Enormous jagged pillars of stone began bursting up from the ground below in a spray of sand, the vast line of stone spires rapidly moving towards Floccus and Atlus. As quickly as the onslaught began it was upon them, a spike of rock shot out of the ground and struck Atlus hard launching the Bug into a second stalagmite, shattering the stone upon the colission.
"Acrobatics!" Kade yelled, Floccus unfortunately the only member of his team that couldn't fly up out of the attack's range. Floccus leapt up onto the top of the fist spire to reach him, beginning to use them like stepping stones and he agiley made his way towards the Kabutops, preparing to strike it with an azure-glowing set of claws. However, the Kabutops was suddenly in front of the Archen, it's movements now looking almost like teleporation to Kade, his eyes struggling to follow them. The Kabutops lashed out with one of its scimitar claws, slicing Floccus and sending him crashing through several stone pillars back into the beach sand below as grains of silica once more rained down over the battlefield.
Atlas barely had time to get up before the Kabutops reached him again. "Counter!" Atlas primed itself to lean into the oncoming attack but no sooner had the Night Slash struck than the Kabutops seemed to be out of sight, striking once again from behind and leaping back faster than the Heracross could spin around. "Aerial Ace, Atlas!" The Heracross launched into the air, narrowly soaring over another Slash from the Kabutops, he spiraled upwards, then dived back down.
The Kabutops parried Atlas' horn again, this time with ease, but Atlas kept divebombing the guardian, attacking with too much strength and precision to be counterattacked. "Keep it up!" Laurent shouted, finally starting to form a plan that felt plausible in his mind. "Aerial Fury, again and again!" Atlas responded with a determined chitter and continued to thrust its horn at Kabutops from the air, striking faster and faster to deadlock even the significantly quicker Kabutops in a surface-to-air fencing match. "Take your chance as soon as you get an opening." Laurent requested of Kade. "It's definitely hurt. It can't take much more damage, but that won't matter if we can't even strike it."
"Got it." Kade said, looking for an opening. The Kabutops was powerful, skilled and supremely fast though. It seemed like the only way to find an opening was to force one into existence. The brute force method wasn't exactly Kade's area of expertise, but it was preferable to decapitation, so he gave his command. "Get in there Floccus, Acrobatics!"
Crying out the affirmative, the Archen rushed to join the fray, leaping up to attack the Kabutops. Now, even with its Speed, the powerful guardian was beginning to struggle. It had taken a lot of damage, and now as it was forced to repel strong repetitive attacks from Laurent's Heracross but it also had to contend with Floccus bounding around and over it and dashing between its legs, attempting to deliver slashes with its own claws as the Kabutops tried to fend of both opponents with its blades.
Floccus spun over the top of the Kabutops' head only to suddenly feel a large, clawed foot slam down on top of it. Pinned down by the powerful fossil, Floccus struggled to escape, thrashing about under its restraint to little avail. This provided what seemed like a brief moment of distraction however, and the Kabutops couldn't move without freeing Floccus. Atlas swooped in, thrusting his horn forward in attempt to catch the Kabutops by surprise, but was foiled by a Stone Edge suddenly erupting beneath it and smashing hard into it, sending the Bug type tumbling. The Kabutops returned its attention to Floccus, preparing to impale the Archen with one of its blades.
Floccus' eyes widened with shock at this, and for the first time it realised how much trouble it was in. It let out a shrieking cry as suddenly blue-purple flames erupted from its mouth, catching both the Kabutops and Kade alike by surprise with the Dragon Breath. The Kabutops winced, crossing its blades in front of itself as it fought against the new attack. It would not be so easily defeated though, with a slash of its scythes, the Kabutops broke through the attack. It was sent staggering back, but Floccus had no time to escape as a stone pillar shot from below it and catapulted it into the air. As he fell back past the Kabutops, it delivered a powerful Slash to him that sent him shooting along the beach past Kade and Laurent. Floccus was out of the battle, but Kade noticed he'd done something important with his surprise final attack. The Kabutops shuddered, afflicted by paralysis.
"Looks iike we made an opening for you instead." Kade noted.
"It's reflexes are still sharp enough to be a problem...hmm...Atlas, finish it with Seismic Toss!" Atlas smirked confidently with a concrete plan finally in place and took to the air once again. When the Heracross drew near, its target raised its blades to block only for Atlas to grab it by the arm and lift it off the ground. Kabutops prepared to swipe at Atlas but was stopped mid-slash by a series of sparks running up its body and forcing it to cringe, allowing Atlast to shift his grip into a Full Nelson.
The pair of combatants rose higher and higher into the air, the Kabutops' doom seeming more and more assured the further they ascended. The ancient armored waterbug found it difficult to move, but its insectile, strangely-jointed arms allowed it enough of an angle in conjunction with the sharp curve of its blades to weakly hack at Atlas repeatedly as he flew. Laurent's Heracross grit his teeth and with stood the hits until they hit terminal altitude, then flew a perfect vertical circle and dived straight towards the ground.
The trainers were too far away to see but it was then that the Kabutops' eyes flashed with uncertainty for the first time that battle. It bent its arm awkwardly to slice at Atlas' flank a few last, desperate times before it was slammed into the ground, showering Kade and Laurent yet again in various sediments, and obscuring the pokémon in a cloud of dust. The dust cleared with almost anticlimactic speed to reveal a small crater in the ground. Laurent took a step forward hopefully, only to see a chitinous brown arm reach out of the hole and stab a scythe-like appendage into the solid earth for traction. Fear for his pokémon's health drained much of the color from Laurent's face and caused his voice to come out unsteadily. "No...How can it still be standing?"
"Should that even be possible?" Kade asked increduously, talking to nobody in particular. Weakened and struggling, the Kabutops guardian walked slowly towards Kade and Lauren with murder in its eyes. What was more, every step it seemed to become more customed to its wounded state, finding it easier and easier to move towards its prey. Soon it was moving quite comfortably again as the gap between it and the stunned trainers grew. Instinctively, both Kade and Laurent reached for a second Pokeball, sensing a continuation to the grueling battle on the way. Then suddenly, a solemn, whisper-like cry echoed across the island and the sea around them.
The Kabutops suddenly froze, its eyes opening wide with shock. Kade looked around, trying to find the source of the strange sound that had stopped the vicious Kabutops in its tracks. He saw no trace of the noise's origin, but he did become aware of the sea around them becoming choppier and choppier.
"That cry?..." Laurent muttered just loud enough for Kade to hear. "I heard something like it during festivals when I was a boy..."
Kade couldn't muster a reply, he was simply stunned at what was happening before him. The Kabutops backed further away from the trainers as the sea became wilder, violently churning like it was in the throws of hurricane winds... despite the clear sky above. Kade's mouth fell open wide as suddenly an enormous spout of water rose from the sea, the churning vortex rising tall before them. Then, the spout exploded into a salty spray that showered down from the sky, washing some of the sand from Kade and Laurent and causing Kade's jaw to practically fall through the earth below. High above the churning waves, an enormous white avian creatures had emerged. The majestic beast was several times Kade's size with slick feathers, broad wings ending in fingeresque feathers. From its back were blunt, purple spines or fins. It looked at the Kabutops, sweeping its great eyes briefly over the pair of trainers.
"Laurent..." Kade stammered "Do you realise what we're looking at? I... can't believe it. First Yveltal now..." Kade was too awestruck to finish his sentence.
"Lugia..." Laurent finished for him, equally stunned.
The Legendary Pokemon gave another solemn, echoing cry that seemed to flow over the sea like a wind. It stared at the Kabutops for only a second longer before diving back into the waves below. As soon as its shadow was no loner visible from the surface, the volatile water around them began to rapidly calm once more. The Kabutops turned back to Kade and Laurent, seemingly bowing its head before it slumped back towards the island's interior. Kade thanked Floccus, returning him to his pokeball before falling onto the sand.
"Incredible." he breathed, apparently having forgotten that an overzealous fossil had just tried to kill him.
Laurent returned Atlas as well, then made his way over to the statue he'd taken the Prism Scale from. He put his palms together as if praying and bowed his head. "Thank you for your mercy, and for keeping the seas in balance for all those who live off of and in it." After the solemn moment had passed he turned back to Kade with a twinkle in his eye. "That was amazing! I don't know what's more amazing, that we were lucky enough to see Lugia itself, or that it saved us! This island isn't just an altar...it's genuinely sacred!"
"We saw Lugia." Kade stated flatly in response, still far too enchanted to make any real conversation.
As Sebastian took his place on the lifted platform, he could feel Grant's eyes watching his every move. The imposing man seemed incredibly confident, despite handing out at least two gym badges that very morning. It's hard to tell if this is a simple Gym Leader tactic, or if it's the simple fact that his challenger looks less than threatening.
"I thought I'd see you again." Grant smiles. He remembered the boy from his battle with the Detective, he sat in the stands with the other Aquacorde graduates, he must have been another graduate, and yet...he could not recall Viola telling him about this one.
"I didn't journey this far just to watch." Sebastian speaks as he eases his bag off his shoulder and places it on the ground. Two heads peer out of the bag: An eager looking pup and a hesitant skull. These two would learn a lot from this battle.
"I hope you don't think you'll have an easy time just because you've seen my strategy. No two battles are the same, after all."
"I'm well aware." Sebastian nods.
"Then I look forward to our battle. What shall it be? A single or double battle?" Grant's smile grows as the challenge grows near.
"Double, if you don't mind."
"So be it."
"The battle between the Leader, Grant, and the challenger, Sebastian, will begin now!" The referee shouts.
Sebastian! Now he remembers, Viola did mention this one, and it seems this one's grown a lot since he battled his first gym leader. Hopefully his training skills have improved as much as his physical being has. "I'd like to formally introduce you to my partners: Aurorus and Tyrantrum!"
As he suspected, Sebastian had spent hours studying these two Pokemon, and he was certain he had created a counter strategy worthy of his experienced opponent. "This is what we've been training for, Hakkai, Fiore!"
"A fighter and a fairy? Interesting." Grant's smile only seems to grow as the battle draws closer and closer. "Now, make your first move, challenger."
Gym leaders certainly are a courteous type, aren't they? That suits Sebastian just fine, odds are he won't have a lot of time to set up once Grant begins his assault. "Fiore, Helping Hand, Hakkai, Meditate!"
The tiny fairy claps its hands together, a light blue glow surrounding the Comfey before it floated towards the intently focused Mienfoo.
"You're a studious one, aren't you? Most trainers come charging in head first."
"Charging head first into a rock tends not to bode well." Sebastian remarks.
Sebastian's words make Grant chuckle. "Don't think you've got me outsmarted just yet. You'll have to get to them before those buffs do you any good. Now, Double Ancient Power!"
The towering dinos both begin to glow, boulders forming around their beings and charging towards their significantly smaller opponents.
"Hakkai, jump! Just like we planned. Fiore, hold on!"
The tiny lei wraps itself around Hakkai's neck, appearing little more than a flower-necklace as the Mienfoo leaps skyward. Little feet land atop a hurtling rock, he then leaps to another, and another. They had been practicing for this very move since Lumiose; jumping atop trash cans, tree branches, stones, and Ukyou's barrages of ice. These rocks were like flying stepping stones, leading the fighting type straight for the icy dinosaur.
"Drain Punch Aurorus! Leech Seed Tyrantrum!"
Hakkai's fist begins to glow with a powerful energy as he lunges for the blue rock type, planting a powerful punch into the mighty creature's jaw, enough to cause the massive creature to stumble backward. Meanwhile, still clutching his shoulder, Fiore sends a seed flying towards the red dino, a seed that bursts open and wraps itself around the creature's chest.
"Ice Fang, while it's falling!" Grant shouts to his Tyrantrum. Icicles sprout from the creature's mighty fangs as it lunges towards the small weasel, who seems relatively hopeless as he falls to the ground.
"Fiore, unwind and Vine Whip! Get Hakkai out of there!"
As commanded, the tiny fairy flies off of its companion's shoulder. As it flees the charging Tyrantrum, it throws a vine around its partner, jerking the Mienfoo away from the mighty jaws just before the powerful jaws crush down.
"You've come up with some good strategies, but tell me, how will your Pokemon hit what they can't see? Aurorus, use Mist!"
The once rocky battlefield soon resembled a cloudy sky, which the smaller Pokemon were completely swallowed by.
"Now, show them Hail!"
The cloudy battlefield was soon pelted with icy pebbles, pebbles that would chip away at three of the four Pokemon on the battlefield. A glowing red energy floating away from Tyrantrum and sinking into Comfey causes Sebastian to smirk: The damage done by the hail would quickly be undone by the energy Fiore was sapping away from the enemy, while Tyrantrum was having its strength eaten away twice as fast, by the vicious hail, and the energy-draining seed. Hakkai, on the other hand, he needed to get his fighting type towards the massive dinosaurs before he could heal, and in order to do that, Hakkai needed to see his opponents.
"Fiore, blow this mist away with Petal Blizzard! Hakkai, meditate again!"
The tiny fairy releases a powerful blast of wind and petals, which blew sections of the blinding mist away, as its partner focuses his energy, his attack power boosting once more.
"Cute." Grant remarks as he shakes his head. "But it will take more than that pitiful gust to clear out this entire arena, and you're out of time! Aurorus, Hyper Beam Mienfoo!" He can see Sebastian's strategy clear as day, that Comfey is a support Pokemon, here to protect and add power to Mienfoo. Without anyone to support, the little fairy is a sitting Ducklett.
A large, blue energy blast comes charging straight for Hakkai, a blast so powerful that the arena itself begins to tremble.
"Hakkai, Detect!" Sebastian shouts abruptly. "Fiore, hold on!"
The fighting type's eyes sparkle as the world around him appears in slow motion. He can see the powerful move hurtling towards him, and he can see the perfect place to go to avoid it. As Fiore wraps himself around his partner, Hakkai lunges backward, locating a large collection of stones to hide behind.
The beam makes contact with the ground, right where Hakkai once stood, a burst of power so strong that Sebastian clutches onto the railing of his platform as it shakes and shudders, the mist covered battlefield now being swallowed by dust and scattered debris, that rises even higher than the shrouding mist. Seconds tick by before, leaping above the dust and debris, Hakkai leaps onto one of the taller stone platforms that decorate the arena, one significantly closer to Aurorus than he had previously been.
"Drain Punch!" Sebastian calls. Aurorus was practically frozen after its Hyper Beam, it needed to recharge, while Hakkai was ready to lunge. Its attack raised by two Meditations, the incoming Drain Punch was enough to send the dino backward, crashing into another stone pillar, which instantly shattered under the heavy creature's weight.
Aurorus was defeated. The mist and hail both began to fade away from the arena, which was now filled with craters, and tiny pebbles that were once towering stone slabs.
"Aurorus is unable to battle!" The voice of the referee calls.
"Nicely done, but don't think this battle is over just yet." Grant remarks as he returns the icy dino to its Pokeball. "You've been so focused on taking out my Aurorus, that you've hardly scratched Tyrantrum. Now, go, use Dragon Tail!"
"Fiore, get Hakkai onto Tyrauntrum's back!"
Once more the small fairy detaches from Hakkai's shoulder and flies right into the attacking tail, which sails right through the flowery Pokemon, causing Tyrantrum to roar in absolute frustration as Fiore extends its Vine Whip and wraps it around Hakkai, tossing its partner onto the towering Pokemon's back. "Now run!"
Tyrantrum snaps and stomps as Hakkai runs up his backside, reaching the top and latching onto the crown liked growths atop its head. Despite hardly being hit during the battle thus far, Tyrantrum was showing significant signs of exhaustion: The leech seed placed upon its body at the beginning of the battle had been slowly eating away at it. Now, without fear of a Light Screen to protect Tyrantrum from special attacks, and with the towering Dino attempting to shake its new headpiece away, Fiore could start dealing real damage.
"Fiore, Draining Kiss!" Sebastian calls as the Tyrantrum smashes its head into a nearby boulder, attempting to shake Hakkai free, and yet the determined weasel continues to cling.
Floating to a safe distance, the Comfey blows a kiss to the rampaging dinosaur, which takes the shape of a blue heart. As it comes in contact with the opponent, it pops, draining all the more energy and returning it to Fiore.
Having more than enough of this little creature's escapades, Grant gives his Tyrantrum a determined look. "Use Tri-fang!"
"Fiore, blind spot!"
As Tyrantrum opens its wide mouth, its teeth begin to glow. Several fangs erupt in flames, while others burst with electricity, and more still freeze over, steam from the cold ice mixing with the hot breath. It lunges forward towards Fiore…
But it's gone.
"You know." Sebastian manages a small smirk. "My mother is a scientist, back on Cinnabar Island. One of her more impressive discoveries was the reason Tyrantrum went extinct so long ago. She discovered that its eyes are too far apart, and it simply can't see something that stands right between them."
Indeed, right in the dead center of Tyrantrum's face, the adorable little fairy flutters.
"That steam created by the tri-fang is the perfect coverage. It blinded Tyrantrum just long enough for Fiore to get into place." Sebastian breathes a soft sigh of relief as he looks to his Pokemon. "Now, finish this! Drain Punch, Draining Kiss!"
Both attacks collide onto Tyrantrum at once, a massive punch to the back of the head, and an energy draining smooch to the front, both super effective moves delivered to the drained dinosaur's cranium. The beast slowly begins to fall to the floor, causing Hakkai to leap off, grabbing little Fiore on his way down.
"Tyrantrum is unable to battle, the winner of the match is Sebastian!" The referee calls, waving a flag in the challenger's direction.
"Fey!" Comfey cheers as the two land safely on the ground. With a vibrant smile, he raises his tiny hand to his partner for a victory high five.
"Foo." Hakkai grins as he taps the tiny hand with his own. As the two hands make contact, the fighting type Pokemon's body erupts in light. The hand touching Fiore's own begins to grow, along with the rest of its body, and when the light vanishes, a brand new Pokemon stands in Hakkai's place.
"Shao?" The newly evolved Pokemon looks at its new body, then to Sebastian as the trainer rushes onto the arena. "Shao!" It cries happily. Finally...they had trained so hard for this day, for this moment.
"I believe double congratulations are in order." Grant grins as he meets Sebastian in the center of the battlefield. "For your victory, and for your new partner."
"Mienshao." The fighting type offers a respectful headbow to the gym leader.
"Take these with you." Grant holds a Gym badge in his hand, along with a ™. "I think your little buddy in the bag could make good use of this." He gestures to Fay'lene, who, along with their Cubone friend, was still sticking her head from Sebastian's bag, tail wagging excitedly.
"Thank you." Sebastian bows upon taking the items. "For the badge, and for the battle. We'll never forget this one."
The battle between Emma and Grant had came and went. There was a brief intermission between battles, which Avril could only assume was to allow time for the gym leader to have his pokémon treated for their wounds in the previous battle. After Grant returned from the pokémon center however, Avril decided it was time for her to take her shot against the Cyllage City gym leader. Thanks to getting a view of the previous battle however, Avril had at the very least a small hint as to how to go about battling the man for her second gym badge. In retrospect, Grant allowing for people to spectate the gym battles was probably not one of his better ideas. At least, that was how Avril saw it.
The only ordeal that Avril really found herself forced to deal with was the climb up to the top where the gym battle would actually take place. No amount of watching Emma would really prepare the girl for that, as part of the challenge relied on Avril's own physical strength and vitality. Thankfully, the trainer had some mild confidence in her physical ability.
As the blonde trainer made her way up to the top of the pokémon gym, a particular, brown-haired trainer made her way into the building to spectate a couple of matches. While she had no intention of challenging Grant herself, mainly on account of already having defeated the gym leader once before, Robin Morris figured that watching some gym battles might be a good way to pass some time for the afternoon. Quietly, the brown-haired girl made her way up the bleachers, coming close to Emma, who had decided to spectate the match much like how Avril' had watched hers. Smiling down at the detective, Robin gently cleared her throat so as to gain the girl's attention.
"Excuse me there, miss?" Robin called out with a grin. "Is this seat taken? I'm in the mood to watch a battle or two, you see."
"Not at all!' Emma politely responded. "Please, be my guest. I just finished my battle, so I'm watching my friend get her turn."
Robin smiled, thanking the girl as she took a seat beside Emma. She glanced up, staring at the massive, rock-climbing structure planted in the middle of the gym. "Wow, that brings back a few memories. I actually think Grant made that thing bigger since the last time I was here..."
Emma glanced over to the young woman. "I take it you've been here before, then?" she asked. "Are you a trainer too, miss, er..."
"Morris. Robin Morris," the brown-haired girl replied. "And yeah, I'm a trainer and I happened to pass through here when I took a lap around Kalos a year or so ago. I don't wanna brag, but I guess you could say I really rocked this gym."
"Also a pun lover I see, hehe. You remind me of--" Emma started, but stopped mid-sentence upon a realization. "Hold on... did you say, Robin... Morris[/]? Could it be that you have a..."
"A sister...?" Robin questioned, picking up rather quickly where Emma was heading. She laughed softly at the girl's surprise, all the pieces falling into place. "So, you must be another friend of my baby sister's then. Let's see... If you're anything like that boy I met the other night... I'm gonna guess you graduated from the academy with her?"
"Y-yes, we did!" Emma shyly replied. "My name is Emma. Avril is actually my closest and dearest friend. Look, see her down there? She's about to battle sir Grant."
Robin glanced over in the direction Emma pointed, a look of fondness quickly coming to the girl's face. Her hair was a lot shorter... And she had definitely grown a few inches since the last time they were together, but there was no doubt about it. The girl slowly climbing her way up to face Grant was none other than her baby sister.
"Holy crap..." Robin said quietly. "You've grown a lot, kiddo... Hard to believe it's been about three or four years since I last saw you... And just look at you now."
"Now the real show's about to begin." Victoria smirks to herself as she reaches into her bag, taking out a pristine luxury ball, which quickly pops open. A Skitty eagerly takes shape on the bleachers below Victoria and cheers out a soft greeting. She then sniffs the air and leaps in a half circle, seeing the source of the familiar scent: AVIIII!
"NYA NYA!" The pink kitten waves with her tail down to the challenger below.
Avril slowly pulled herself up on the ledge, the familiar sound of a certain, pink, cat pokémon reaching her ears. The girl glanced around, quickly spotting the sight of Victoria and her Skitty in the bleachers. A faint blush quickly graced her cheeks as she quickly realized that this meant the girl was going to be watching her match with Grant. Suddenly, Avril felt herself a great deal more nervous about this battle than she had been previously. She wasn't exactly sure as to why, but she suddenly found herself wanting to somehow manage to defeat Grant without making the slightest slip up. Rather, she had had that desire before... but there was suddenly a great deal of pressure placed in the upcoming match now.
Slowly, Avril began to wave towards Victoria and her Skitty. "Arceus, don't let me choke now..."
The girl resumed her climb up towards the top of the gym. She really wasn't sure just how long it took for her to arrive, but before long Avril did indeed finally manage to reach the top. As she expected, Grant was waiting for her at the top. Right away, Avril found her eyes drifting up to the man's hair, namely the rocks and jewels he had tangled up inside of it. The younger of the two trainers wondered if Grant was aware that he quite possibly had a literal fortune just waiting to be harvested with a quick haircut.
"Ah, you must be my next challenger!" Grant replied, greeting Avril. "Name's Grant. With the previous battles I've had, I'm quite excited to see what kind of power you'll show me. Are you a strong enough trainer to beat me?"
He seemed... overly dramatic, almost excited at the prospect of facing another trainer that could potentially beat him. Avril began to wonder if this was something that every gym leader had to develop a tolerance for. She couldn't imagine many gym leaders who would react to losing by crying or throwing a tantrum. "I... I think so..."
"You think?" Grant repeated in a sudden disappointment. "You won't get stronger by that level of confidence. Didn't you see the last battle?"
"Well, yeah..." Avril answered, rubbing the back of her head somewhat sheepishly. "But that was different. I wasn't the one being watched."
"Then you should know my tricks. I gave everything I had to that last girl and still lost," Grant claimed. However.. he didn't seem to mind. "Hmm. What's your name?"
"Me...? My name's Avril Morris," the blonde replied.
"Avril... Morris, huh? I see," Grant replied with a snide grin. "Well, tell me Avril. Why did you want to be a trainer?"
"Well..." Avril hesitated. She really wasn't comfortable talking about such matters with someone she barely knew. The only person who really had even the vaguest idea about her reasoning for being a trainer at this point was Emma, and the detective only learned about that recently. "I just... I have something I need to prove to someone... to some people. Why...?"
"I met someone... sometime ago," Grant replied. "And she was probably the strongest trainer I've ever faced. It was almost like... she had a natural talent. Actually, you... kinda remind me of her, but the two of you couldn't be more different if you ask me." Grant shook his head. "Sorry about my rambling. Still, if you gotta prove something to someone, then the first step would be... well. Do you know what's needed as the first step?"
He then took out two pokeballs, flashing them forward. "If you can't figure that out... you'll never defeat me, let alone reach your goal!" He then threw his two pokeballs to the battlefield, releasing two pokemon: his Aurorus, and his Tyrantrum. They both roared tremendously.
"Wanna get closer?" Victoria asks, earning herself an excited squeak from her Skitty as it leaps into her arms. Holding the little darling to her chest she makes her way down the bleachers, resisting the urge to roll her eyes when Grant asked Avril such a vague question. He did that with Emma too, and...maybe Jackson? Eh, she wasn't fully awake when their battle started. The point is, he's a Gym Leader, not a Sage, he shouldn't be trying to help his opponents down the path of enlightenment during his battle. Just let Avril kick your ass and give her the badge.
Marie trembles with excitement as she stares at Avril, waiting to see her Pokemon. Who could she choose? Her Leafeon would be a good choice, if not for that icy Hyper Beam. Noctowl won't do, no matter what an ass kicker that giant bird was. There's Lulu, oh, Lulu would be hilarious here, sinking into Shadows and popping out in unexpected places. Hmm...what else does Avril have up her sleeve?
Avril stared at the man questionably, trying to figure out what in the world he was going on about. She didn't really understand just what Grant was getting at when he battled Emma and went on about this king person. Still she knew that if there was anything to figure out, she wouldn't come to the conclusion by just standing around and staring into space. Avril reached for the balls on her bracelet and carefully picked two off of the accessory. One of them was an easy choice for this match up against the fossil-type pokémon. Her second choice on the other hand... well, she'd have to hope that that pokémon would be up to the challenge.
The trainer tossed the balls high into the air and they both snapped open in a flash of light. The first pokémon to emerge onto the battlefield was none other than Shino. Avril figured that the Frogadier was going to be an excellent match for the rock-type pokémon, given his typing and various move coverage... The other pokémon that was chosen, however...
An excited mewl escaped out into the air as a particular Flaaffy took her place along side of Shino. Marble was practically bouncing in place at the prospect of getting to assist her teammate and Avril, especially since it was going to be her first official gym battle since she joined the team. Marble looked around the rocky battlefield, quickly spotting her opponents in the form of an icy Aurorus and a rather fierce and angry looking Tyrantrum. Both of the dinosaur pokémon towered over Marble and Shino. While Shino looked a little bit nervous at the rather large size difference between himself and Grant's pokémon, Marble didn't seem all that concerned. In fact, the size difference seemed to only excite the Flaaffy further.
"An electric type and a water type, huh? Interesting choice!" Grant said. "Let see what you got. You got the first move."
"Right... Shino, start things off with a Water Pulse against his Aurorus! Marble, attack his Tyrantrum with an Electro Ball!" Avril ordered.
Marble quickly ran forward, the orb on the tip of her tail starting to glow with electric energy. The Flaaffy let out a loud baa as she quickly flug her tail forward, sending forth a ball of electricity straight towards the Tyrantrum. Meanwhile, Shino had set his focus upon the Aurorus. Much like Marble, the Frogadier began to charge forward. Rather than stay on that path however, Shino hopped high into the air and unleashed a powerful, spherical blast of water straight in the direction of Grant's Aurorus.
"Light Screen!" Grant quickly retaliated. His Aurorus glowed a brilliant golden hue, as soon, a golden barrier formed around Aurorus and Tyrantrum, shielding them both from their foes' representative attacks. "Don't think you can get away with simple attacks in this Gym," Grant warned. "Now! Double Ancient Power attack!" the two dino pokemon glowed, as multicolored rocked started to form, surrounding the two. The boulders are then hurled towards Shino and Marble, in a seemingly endless barrage.
Avril was helpless to watch as the boulders flew straight at Marble and Shino, essentially blocking the attacks of the two pokémon with ease. Thankfully, Marble was able to dodge most of the attack. A few of the rocks grazed her side as the attack landed. Shino, on the other hand was not as lucky. The Frogadier was in the midst of landing when the boulders slammed into him, causing the frog pokémon to land roughly on the ground in pain. He croaked quietly, his arms shaky as he slowly managed to pick himself off the ground.
A gentle shaking from Victoria's bag soon gave presence to a burst of light, her Luxio popping out of his Pokeball after several mewls from his favorite sheep. The young lion's tail sways in interest as he cries out words of encouragement to Marble-- at least they sound like words of encouragement. Lucian is smiling, and hopping eagerly from side to side as the pink sheep dodged through those boulders like a champ.
"C'mon, Fro, you're faster than this…" Victoria murmurs as she squeezes her Skitty just a bit tighter. It's fine, one little attack making contact is fine, they're rocks, that Frogadier's a water type. Avril's got this in the bag, if she just doesn't freeze up… Despite herself, Victoria turns to the other two onlookers; the blonde one's Emma, she's the one that Avril was fighting with at the party. Yeah, Avril said she forgave her since then...but Avril would probably forgive a Mudsdale for running over her, she's just too sweet. "Is shouting words of encouragement frowned upon in this situation?" She asks. Blonde girl or brunette girl, either way.
Emma turned to the woman, with observant eyes. "You..." she recognizes. "You're the girl that was with Avril before at that party... Wait! Are you... the trainer Avril likes?!"
"Huh... the girl Avril likes...?" Robin questioned, glancing between the two blondes. She turned to Emma, a curious look in her eyes. "Is she another graduate?"
Victoria couldn't help but smile, well, victoriously, at the comment. She hopes she's the trainer Avril likes, if not, she's going to have to find that person and...throw them into the ocean or something. "I hope so~"
"No idea who she is..." Emma told Robin. She then turned back to Victoria. "Well... were you from the academy? Who are you?"
Even if she doesn't give her real name, odds are Avril will give it once the battle is over. Ah, well, Detective Shemale isn't here, so it's alright. "Victoria, Victoria Not-from-the-Academy." As Victoria speaks, Marie begins studying the brunette girl. She smells sort of like Avril...and she talks sorta like Avril.
"Okay, Victoria," Emma grasped, probably ignoring her last bit. "I'm Emma Kuzunoha. I... have to thank you for keeping Avril happy, while we both... well, you probably know."
Emma gagged. She's like a female version of Jackson, goddammit, she winced in thought. Are these the sorts of girls Avril is into? she then made a small smile. "I... hope we get along then. I really hope we do..."
"Nya?" Marie tilts her head at the weird sound not-Avi-but-sort-of-like-Avi is making. She gently pokes Victoria's arm, then points her paw at not-Avi-but-close.
"No, no hairball. She's just being silly." The thief smiles down at her pink fuzzball. Later she would use this as an example as to why you don't waste being nice on rich people: They can't get down off their high-horseas to get a commoner's joke.
Silly? Marie's ears perk up at the word, and she smiles towards not-Avi-but-close, using her tail to wave a friendly greeting.
"Aww, Hi miss skitty!" Emma greeted the Skitty with a wave back. "Such a cutie! Nya-Nya..."
Marie looks absolutely shocked when not-Avi-but-almost speaks her language. She looks up at Victoria while holding her little front paws towards the new blonde girl.
"Sure, you can say hi." Okay...Emma likes Skitties. Maybe she's not the spawn of Giratina. This will call for closer inspection. Victoria sets the pink kitten on the ground, and Marie eagerly hops onto Emma's shoe.
"Uuuup you go," Emma gleefully squealed, picking up the Skitty, and gently placing her on her lap. Emma gave her a small pat. She then gave a warm look towards it. "You have the same smile... as my mother did," she claimed, while gently scratching behind the Skitty's ears. "Your friend is a very fortunate lady."
"Nyanyanya~" Marie purrs loudly as she snuggles against their new friend's chest. Now she remembers this girl from the party; the Skitty had been hiding under the tables and stealing dropped food from its patrons. She and Avi yelled at each other, the kind of yelling humans only do when they really care about each other. Everything's okay now, though. If only...she could get Vivi and new-friend to see that they're both nice people. She starts by making a heart shaped formation with her tail and pointing to Victoria.
"I love you too." Victoria tears her eyes away from the battle long enough to wave back to her Skitty.
As interesting as the two girls who were apparently quite close to Avril were, and both in different ways... which just made their interactions more interesting to Robin, the older of the two Morris found herself returning her focus towards the battle proceedings. She had never gotten to see her sister really handle pokémon before, so getting to see her locking horns with a gym leader of all people was simply the best she could have hoped for.
Avril clenched her fist, watching her pokémon intently as they tried to regain their composure. "I... I've got more than simple attacks at my disposal! Shino use Camoflague now! Marble, zap that Tyrantrum with a Thunder Wave!"
Marble began to charge up more electrical energy in her tail, suddenly sending forth a static-filled wave at the Tyrantrum. Meanwhile, Shino's eyes gave off a soft glow as he began to fade into the scenery of the battlefield. Within a few seconds, the Frogadier completely disappeared from sight, making it look as if Marble was taking on Grant's two pokémon all on her lonesome.
The static electrical charge found its way to Tyrantrum. It started to ache and go numb upon contact. It kneeled, now standing on one foot. "Cutting my pokemon's speed I see! Not bad..." Grant praised. "However, we've got our own tricks! Now Aurorus, Mist!" Aurorus blew out a thick light blue cloud that surrounded the battlefield. Grant looked on in confidence as the field became virtually clouded. "Now, Hail!" he called out again. A cloud started to form overhead. Soon... it started hailing. Pelts of hail droplets started falling.
"This is just like he did before during Emma's battle..." Avril thought. She remembered how Tyrantrum was forced to take damage from the pelts of hail falling back then, just like it was having to do now. The biggest change from that battle however, was the fact that Marble had managed to paralyze the more fierce-looking of the duo. Also, she had her trump card in Shino. Grant didn't seem to make a comment about how the Frogadier more or less just disappeared on the battlefield. Did he forget about Shino in such a short span...? "Well, no point of drawing attention to that now. For the time being, let's focus on bringing down at least one of those pokémon..."
"Marble! We're changing targets! Slam that Tyrantrum with an Iron Tail!" Avril ordered.
Marble let out a bit of an unsure-sounding mewl. She wasn't exactly sure that she'd be able to land a blow with the mist covering the battlefield. In the dense mist, it made things a bit more difficult for the Flaaffy to make out. Her eyes narrowed, quickly trying to survey the area as thoroughly as she could. Eventually, the Flaaffy let out an energetic cry as she quickly charged forward. Her tail began to take on a rather glossy, almost silver-like shine as Marble launched herself up in the air and brought her tail down towards what she believed to be her destined target in Grant's Tyrantrum.
Grant meanwhile looked on, as the Flaaffy went towards her chosen target... only to have a secret grin soon after. "You're too reckless!" Grant declared. The Mist cleared somewhat, as Marble charged forward... only to approach Grant's healthier Aurorus. "Hyper Beam!" Grant shouted, with his Aurorus charging, and releasing a light-blue beam of frost, right towards Marble.
Marble let out a pain-filled wail as the Hyper Beam blasted essentially at point-blank range. The sheep pokémon went flying back, landing on the ground roughly and on her backside at that. An annoyed huff slipped out of Marble's mouth as she tried to pick herself back off the ground. This battle was getting rather frustrating. These sort frontal assaults were working back against those three girls at that fancy building, so why not here? Marble glanced over her shoulder at Avril, afraid that she had somehow managed to disappoint her trainer. However, the blonde girl just gave her Flaaffy a reassuring smile.
"She's got this," Robin mused aloud. That Aurorus is gonna have to recover from using that Hyper Beam... Not to mention Avril's Frogadier is still out there on the field somewhere. With one pokémon recovering and another paralyzed, Grant's essentially wide open to an attack now."
"You're doing great Marble..." Avril whispered. A small smile quickly worked its way up to her lips. "In fact, I think we've got them both right where we need 'em! Marble, go for another Iron Tail on that Tyrantrum! Shino, now! Come out and blast it with an Ice Beam!"
Marble slowly staggered forward, her tail taking on that familiar shimmer of metal once more. With the mist clearing a bit, Marble was able to easily make out her target. Just like before, her pace began to quicken as she made her way towards the paralyzed Tyrantrum. With an energetic wail, Marble hopped up towards her target and prepared to slam her tail right into the fossil pokémon's head. At that exact moment, Shino shot out from behind Tyrantrum. The Frogadier took a deep breath, before suddenly exhaling quickly and sending forth an icy blast of pain straight towards the Tyrantrum. Both pokémon took another pelting from the hail, but continued to stay focused regardless of the pain the falling ice was causing them.
Grant simply sighed. "...Is this really your skill level?" He then asked. "I told you: you're not going to win with such simple, amateurish moves. Well, let's see what you're made of. Tyrantrum, Ice Fang attack!" The Tyrantrum opened its wide jaw, crunching towards the ground with its sharp teeth. Soon, an icy blast surrounded it, as it spread towards the field. Ice pillars started to form by all the rocks and boulders from the previous ancient power barrage, creating a contrast of ice pillars that separated the Pokemon.
Shino hopped back in surprise, his Ice Beam suddenly blasting up against a tall, frozen pillar. Likewise, Marble's Iron Tail slammed into a frosty pillar that formed in front of her. Unlike the Frogadier's attack however, Marble's Iron Tail slammed right into the pillar just hard enough to send the frozen rock cracking in two. With a loud wail, Marble sent half of the frozen boulder sailing right into the Tyrantrum clobbering the fossil pokémon right in his noggin.
"I see..." Grant observed. His Tyrantrum staggered back, growling from the pain. "You're not like Emma and Jackson - you just do things that seem natural to you, and your Pokemon feeds off on it... I take back what I said; that's impressive." He then gave Avril a side look. "Well? Have you figured out the answer of your first step?"
"Yeah... Yeah, I know what I need to do first..." Avril replied, her fists clenching tightly as she spoke. "Before I prove it to Emmie... Or my old man... or anyone else... I have to prove it to myself!"
Grant smiled. "There you go. That wasn't so hard to figure out, huh?" He remarked. But then... he revved himself up. He suddenly took off his shirt, throwing it across the field. "...This will probably be my final technique. My ultimate technique! Go, Tri-Fang!" Tyrantrum started glowing red, then yellow, finally blue. He opened his jaw, as sparks of electricity, bursts of small flames, and small ice crystals gleaming, all formed in his mouth. "A combination of Fire Fang, Ice Fang, and Thunder Fang! What are you going to do now, Avril?! Now go!" His Tyrantrum stampeded ahead, preparing for a skirmish.
Avril watched as the Tyrantrum charged forward, the prehistoric creature setting its sights onto Marble. The Flaaffy watched with wide eyes, knowing that she wouldn't be able to take an attack like this one and stay standing. Yet despite the pressure being exerted in the situation, Avril remained just as determined... if not more so. She turned a hard glare towards the Tyrantrum, and quickly glanced up at Shino, who was now standing on top of one of the frozen pillars.
"Shino, now! Use Surf!" Avril shouted.
The Frogadier's eyes began to glow a deep, oceanic-blue as he began to croak loudly. Slowly at first, a dampness began to take into the air on the battlefield, with pools of water quickly beginning to form on the ground. The pools of water began to mold together, forming a simple puddle at first... before turning into a pond... before quickly starting flood the entire battlefield, almost to the point where it looked as though the pokémon were standing knee deep in the ocean. The water began to shift suddenly, as if a giant wave was pulling all the water that was forming up and towards Shino. With a loud croak, the Frogadier quickly launched himself into the air, coming to sit on top of the now massive wave that was looming closer to both the Tyrantrum and the Aurorus. Marble quickly scrambled away, the Flaaffy doing her best to grab hold to a nearby boulder as the wave suddenly crashed down on the battlefield, a torrential downpour of water engulfing everything in sight.
The water eventually subsided. Grant looked on as the battlefield started to dry up. Eventually, his real suprise came when he saw both Aurorus and Tyrantrum, down in defeat on the rocky surfaces. "...The water conducted all that electricity Tyrantrum stored in his mouth..." he observed. "The strong Surf attack combined with that was strong enough to award your victory. Excellent job!"
"Yeah, of course!" Avril replied, a wide grin stretching across her face. "When I saw that attack of your Tyrantrum coming, along with the static being thrown around by Marble, I knew that a short circuit was just what the doctor ordered here!"
In reality, Avril kind of got lucky with how the battle ended. She hadn't counted on Marble breaking through the ice at all. Nor did she take all the electrical discharge that the Flaaffy had released throughout the battle. Of course, there was no reason to let Grant know that she had more or less just lucked out in this victory.
Grant nodded, as he retrieved his shirt, and flung it over his shoulder. He made his way around the stage, right to Avril. "Keep battling and get stronger, y'hear? Maybe your goal will be closer than you think! Meanwhile, here take this." He held out his hand, showing a trinket from his pocket. "This is the Cliff Badge! You've earned it."
"That's that." Victoria smiles triumphantly. Tucking her bangs behind her ear she glances to the two women she had taken up beside: Avril's best friend and...she has no idea who this woman is, but she sure looks proud. She's got to be important somehow. Maybe a roommate or a tutor? "Who's rushing down to congratulate the victor first?"
Emma looked on to her friend, giving her a warm smile. "You go ahead," she said happily. "She won't need me for now. Honesty, I'm not surprised on how strong she's gotten."
Victoria smiles. "I'm not an expert on the subject or anything, but I don't think being friends with someone means only wanting them around when you need them for something." However, she'll jump at the chance to see Avi. "Coming?" She asks her Skitty.
"Nyanya!" Marie quickly nuzzles under Emma's chin before leaping back onto Victoria's shoe. Thief and pink kitten, accompanied by her Luxio, and Glameow (who had been hiding under the stands for the majority of the battle), rush towards the arena below.
"If you only knew..." Emma said to herself, walking her way down as well.
Avril happily claimed her badge from Grant, taking a moment to look at the luster it had as she held it up towards the lights. The blonde had almost forgotten what it was like to receive a new badge, and for good reason since it had been quite a long time since she had received her Bug Badge from Viola. Smiling, Avril placed her badge away and glanced up just in time to see some familiar faces approaching her.
"Emmie, you were watching that whole time?" Avril questioned. "I thought you would have went on to do your own thing... And Victoria, you came too!"
"Well done Avril," Emma gleamed. "You've gotten stronger! But you know what? You're still no match for my... hug attack!" she giggled.
Avril nearly stumbled over from the sudden hug of Emma. The girl glanced over her shoulder at the detective, sticking her tongue out at the girl as she did so. "You're such a dork sometimes, you know that?"
"Of course~ I want to be able to say that I was there way back when Champion Avril got her second badge." Victoria continues to beam with pride as she trots into the arena to stand beside Avril.
"Nyanyanya!" Marie cries as she romps behind her trainer, and makes a quick pounce onto Avi's shoe. Once more the kitten purrs as she nestles against the younger blonde's leg.
Avril smiled as she knelt down, scooping the Skitty up into her arms. Her voice lowered a bit as she spoke, taking care to make sure that Grant wouldn't overhear. "I... I dunno about that much. Truth be told, I kinda lucked out in this match anyways..."
Victoria's smile turned playful as she took a step closer to Avril, making sure she was close enough to whisper. "Hush, you kicked his butt." Marie taps her forehead into Avril's chin as she cuddles into her arms, quietly mewing her agreement.
Lucian the Luxio steps away from his trainer and trots towards Marble. He flashes the electric sheep a toothy grin before leaping from side to side. It seems he's telling her she, also, kicked major butt.
Marble, who was quite soaked and looking rather roughed up from her battle, managed to flash the Luxio a smile. It was a bit of a nervous one, as the sheep distinctly remembered that Lucian had taken a bite onto her tail when they first met, but she could tell that the Luxio meant well with this encounter. There was probably no reason to be afraid this time. Shino too made his way to rejoin his trainer and teammate. A small blush was quick to work its way to the Frogadier's cheeks as he took note of all those who had gathered. He was quick to recognize the fact that he had apparently performed for an audience.
Avril's cheeks turned a bright, rosy red from Victoria's sudden closeness. The girl suddenly found herself for a loss of words at the older girl's compliment as she quickly fumbled for a response. "It was just... I um... I don't..."
"Oh, just take the compliment Avril. Take it from me when I say that you totally rocked Grant's world just now."
"Oh... well, I just..." Avril paused as the sound of the new voice sounded quite familiar. Slowly, the girl turned in the direction of the voice, her eyes widening at the sight of the brown-haired girl standing before her. That same cocky grin. Those same, lime-green eyes, with the same, lazy stare in them. "R-Robin...?!"
"Remember what I said Renia, no holding back, got it?" Drew and Renia stood across a makeshift battlefield, with Sebastian standing aside as referee. The former stared intently at his opponent, with an unyeilding sense of urgency and desire. He really wanted this battle, but not just that, he wanted to win. Brycen stood beside him with the same confidence the pokemon always seemed to wear like it was his favourite suit.
?You got it!? Renia flashes a friendly smile, hoping the nervousness isn?t as obvious as it feels. If she wins, Drew will be sad, if she loses...then she loses, and no one likes that. Feeling a reassuring paw pat against her shoulder, she turns to see the floating Sparky. She smiles, knowing full well she shouldn?t worry over the outcome; this is a fight between friends, and it?s going to be fun.
The pink haired girl takes her position in the makeshift arena and does a short curtsey. ?Challenger goes first, right??
Drew's eyes widened for a moment, before he responded with a disgruntled huff. "Challenger." He scoffed, grabbing a pokeball from his side. Sure he had been the one to challenge her, but making him choose his pokemon first for that reason made him seem like some kind of B side. It didnt matter that much. If he was going to show what he was truly capable of, he'd need to be able to overlook minor hurdles such as that. With those thoughts aside, he tossed the pokeball in his hand, the small Aron clunking clumsily from the ball. "I guess we will go first." He finally smirked.
Renia blinks at the angered look on her friend?s face. He did challenge her, didn?t he? And...isn?t that the rule? She always called her Pokemon out first when challenging gyms in Kanto. Maybe...things were different here? Maybe she should have gone first...another light push from a soft paw brings her back to the moment, and she quickly reaches for a Love Ball from her bag. ?It?s all you, Minako!?
The Steenee bursts from its Pokeball and hits the battlefield, offering the same curtsy as her trainer.
?Round one, Aron versus Steenee, begin!? Sebastian calls, and Selkie waves her branch downward before hopping out of the makeshift arena.
Brycen staggered back at the sight of the grass type. He had never encountered a Steenee in person before, but the pictures he had seen always presented them as incredibly attractive. Another confident smirk etched across his face as he watched the graceful fruit pokemon elegantly greet her opponent. He would have to make himself familiar when he got the chance. Dewy seemed like a distant memory now.
"Levi, this is our first battle together, we've gotta make a statement, alright? Use Harden!" Drew ordered, wasting no time.
The steel type pokemon's hide began to glisten with a metallic sheen.
Minako?s gaze falls on Brycen as she lifts her head from her curtsy, and immediately, her eyes light up. A fellow grass type, and a cute one! Strong, too, she can feel it from here. She flashes a sweet smile towards the chestnut Pokemon, and offers a short wave. Hopefully Renia will let them play together after the battle-- oh right, battle! Time to get serious.
Harden? That?s going to be a problem, most of Steenee?s attacks are physical-- except? ?Minako, use Magical Leaf!?
The fruit Pokemon begins to twirl, multicolored leaves forming around her twirling body and shooting towards the glistening Aron.
Levi flinched as the magically infused foliage swished past him, lashing at his metallic body. He remained strong though, glancing back at his trainer for what to do next.
Drew winced. Watching Levi take hits like that wasnt ideal, but the steel type was hardly fast enough to dodge. Thankfully, the tanky pokemon was more than tough enough to withstand the hit. "Iron Head!" Drew called out. Renia hadnt showed anything unmatchable so far, but if she had as much experience as her team suggested, it wouldnt be long before the girl really started to show what she could do.
?Dodge with Teeter Dance!?
The little fruit smiles as she begins to dance, a pink wave of mist soon spreading outward and over the charging Aron. If it worked, the steel-rock type would be too confused to keep charging for the Steenee. Hopefully Aron didn't have the Unaware ability-- could Aron have the Unaware ability?
"Keep it together Levi!" Drew called out in frustration as his pokemon fumbled after the Grass type. "Dammit..." The trainer grumbled in annoyance. He needed to do something here, otherwise she'd be able to pick off his entire team, but Aron really wasnt a good matchup here. If he was going to get anywhere in this battle, he'd need to stop her from landing any bit hits. "Levi Mud Slap!" His command seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the Aron stumbled helplessly and fell forward, leaving him a sitting duck.
Renia was hesitant, she promised Drew she would give this her all, which meant using Steenee?s best moves, even if they seemed a bit extreme against a Pokemon who had never battled with its trainer before. A promise is a promise? ?Minako, use Low Sweep!?
The grass type leaps into the air with a grand jete, and lands gracefully beside the distressed Aron. She twirls to build up force before sweeping her foot under the steel type?s body.
With all grace of a tauros in a china shop, Levi tumbled and crashed against the ground after the impact of the Steenee's attack. Drew furrowed his brows. His pokemon had managed to take the attack pretty well, all things considered, but in his current state it was only a matter of time. "Levi, return." He sighed, practically acknowledging that the pokemon had been eliminated from the battle. He grabbed another pokeball from his belt. "Zephyr, time to step up." He said flatly.
The bat cheered gleefully as he emerged from his ball. He glanced around, and eagerly hugged his trainer the moment he caught sight of him.
"Zephyr...we're in the middle of a battle. Head in the game." Drew snarled, harshly scolding the baby pokemon.
Wincing in response to his scolding, Zephyr hung his shoulders as he trudged toward.
Aww, it?s so cute, and so young! And she...has to fight it. She doesn?t have a single Pokemon young enough to make this fight even. Okay, time to put an end to this...fast. ?Let?s give them another Magical Leaf, Minako!?
Steenee flashes a smile to Brycen before she begins to spin, the magical leaves shot forward, seeking the body of their latest opponent.
The swarm of leaves easily washed away the Gligar, who now lay on helplessly on the floor. He looked up, tears filling his eyes. Exploding into tears, the pokemon jumped up and latched onto his trainer, staring intently at the scratches on his hide.
Drew sighed, understanding that as another of his pokemon that werent prepared to continue. This was starting to get embarrasing. He reached for Caesar's pokeball, but Brycen stepped forward, with the same smirk on his face. However, Drew noticed that his starter had been flirting back and forth with Renia's pokemon, and the idea of him throwing the match wasnt one Drew particularly liked. He put his hand in front of Brycen, and tossed Caesar's pokeball.
"Caesar, we need to make something of ourselves in this one, alright?" Drew grumbled, a little bit of desperation creeping into his voice. "Caesar, use Faint Attack!"
Minako?s face falls when the baby Pokemon runs off to its trainer and begins to cry. She looks to her trainer with a saddened gaze and shakes her head-- only to take a Faint Attack to the back, which sent her rolling forward.
Renia can?t exactly blame her Steenee for losing the will to battle after making such a young Pokemon fight...Luckily she has an out. ?Use U-turn!?
The fruit Pokemon looks relieved for the split second between the given command and her body becoming a glowing yellow ball. The ball of energy shoots forward, colliding with the fighting type before disappearing back into Steeenee?s Loveball. Renia looks positively excited as she reaches for yet another pink ball.
?Show them what you can do, Belle!?
This time the light from the ball took shape into a small pink bug, with gave off a glittering sheen as it took to the battlefield. ?Use Pollen Puff!?
Little arms reach upward as a large, fluffy ball shapes into the bug?s tiny hands. Once it?s fully formed, the Ribombee hurls the ball towards the Scraggy. Inches before it makes contact, the puff explodes.
Brycen grumbled in discontent as he watched the Steenee disappear back into her ball. Caesar once again screwed him over. His interest in what was going on in the battle was practically drained from him as the bug type pokemon took the field.
Drew on the other hand, bit his lip as he saw the bug. He had no idea what it was, or what the attack Renia had told it to use was. "Dont let it hit you." Drew scolwed as he tried to get some sort of read on what the attack would actually do. More frustrating than his lack of information, was what he could tell just by looking at the thing. This was a fairy type. Renia really wasnt pulling any punches, but she was so much stronger than he expected. This was the real challenge. Brycen and Caesar against a bug and fairy type would be an infuriating mismatch to have to deal with.
The Scraggy was already hard at work, dodging the pollen spores that seemed to home in on his every move.
This is an agile one. Okay, time to change up her tactic a little bit. ?Belle, aerial ace!?
Little wings fluttered so quickly they became nearly invisible as the tiny bee sped downward and slashed into the fighting Pokemon?s body, then abruptly began to fly upward.
Caesar hit the ground hard as the bbug types attack slashed him out of the air. He managed to pick himself up quickly, although not without wobbling as he did reach his feet. With one eye closed, he tried to keep his focus on his opponent, but her sheer speed and awkward colouring made that extremely difficult. The blindingly pink creature seemed to disappear and reappear in the thick of the evening blue sky.
Brycen watched on through the corner of his eye. He hadnt expected much from Caesar, but this was pitiful. As the second most senior member of Drew's team, he figured the fighting type could pull something off. At this rate, the Quilladin would have to beat this girl's whole team himself. Then again, he wasnt particularly keen on taking on that Rapidash.
"We need to take a risk here." Drew sighed. "Alright Renia, dont think this battle's over just yet!" He taunted, knowing full well it just about was. "Caesar, use Swagger!"
The Scraggy smirked. Putting on a mask of utmost, he swaggered up to the Ribombee without a hint of doubt.
A confusion inducing move, guess it?s time for a taste of her own medicine. ?Close your eyes, and use Dazzling Gleam!?
A look of confusion takes over the little bee?s expression before she closes her eyes. Yes, this will keep her from seeing the swaggering fighting type, but how will she be able to aim her attack? The fairy begins to glow, a brilliant light bursting from her tiny body and absorbing the surrounding area. Fortunately, this isn?t a move that needs very precise aim.
Outclassed, outmatched and overpowered: Again Drew found himself clenching his fist in frustration. Caesar was down. There was no chance he was going to take a fairy type attack and get back up. Easing the tension in his hand, he reached for the fighting type's pokeball and recalled him to it.
Brycen sighed as he watched the Caesar fall. He expected it, but the manner in which it happened was even more pitiful than he expected. Without even awaiting his trainer's permission, the grass type took the field, more than ready to take on the undamaged bug type. Despite the type disadvantage, Brycen still seemed to ooze confidence.
"Bry, hit rollout!"
The Quilladin complied, darting firing himself toward the bug like a rocky boulder.
Renia breathed in a sigh of relief when the Dazzling Gleam hit its target. That was a risky move, though it would have been more risky to let Swagger hit. That move is no joke? And now Brycen?s on the field; Drew?s strongest Pokemon, she can?t help but smile at how confident he looks. ?Belle, Pollen Puff!?
Once more the tiny bee takes to the air, creating a massive bomb wrapped in pollen, which she hurls at the frantically rolling grass type.
The Quilladin burst into the air through the pollen bomb. His rocky shell was now completely gone, while his own body had a couple of small singes. All of the momentum from the explosion carried him higher than the Riombee had been able to fly in that time.
Drew smirked; the same wry smirk Brycen had many times during the battle before this moment. This felt so much different than with the others. "Brycen, use vine whip! Grab that bug, then follow it up with another rollout!"
?Cut through that Vine Whip with Aerial Ace!? Renia can?t help but smile as she calls out the attack, this is a really good strategy for handling flying type Pokemon, something a grass type would usually be stuck against.
Tiny wings once more begin to flutter at a rapid speed as they slash against the imposing vine, the Ribombee determined to get some distance between herself and the dangerous chestnut.
Missing his mark, Brycen tumbled to the floor, landing harshly, but taking the impact in his stride.
"We need to shoot that thing out of the sky somehow." Having Brycen on the field, Drew felt a completely different perspective on the battle. He had options here. Ranged attacks, close quarters attacks, defensive options. He'd need to train the others to broaden his their arsenals in the same way he and Brycen had developed together. "Bry, hit her with a couple of pin missiles!"
The fast acting missiles hit their mark. Going back towards Brycen meant risking another Vine-Whip-Rollout, while being this far away didn?t exactly give the Ribombee a whole lot of options. Those little arms can only throw a Pollen Puff so far. Maybe? ?Quiver Dance!?
The pink bee quickly zips from side to side in a rhythmic fashion, a gentle glow surrounding her as she calls forth the power of her dance.
"Dont let up, while she's distracted, Vine Whip!" Drew ordered again, his voice cracking from the pressure. He knew full well that he couldnt let her do that. He wasnt particularly familiar what Quiver Dance did, but between Swords Dance, Teeter Dance, and Fiery Dance, he knew that none of them were good.
The Quiver Dance gave the Ribombee enough of a speed boost to flutter away from the Vine Whip-- for the most part, the tip slashed against her side, leaving a small gash. It was obvious the pink fairy was growing tired of zipping around the arena for so long. ?Now, Baton pass!?
Suddenly, Belle vanished, the delicate glimmer of the Quiver Dance hovering where she once floated. Renia smiles to Drew as she reaches for a regular Pokeball from her bag. This...this is what Drew wanted. ?This is it, Helios!?
As the fiery horse bursts from his Pokeball, the gentle glow of the Quiver Dance floats towards him, wrapping the Rapidash in the same power-boosting glow it had for Ribombee.
Drew froze in place as the Rapidash took the field. This was what he asked for...but he hadnt even defeated the small bug thing, and here his grass type Quilladin was facing a Rapidash with whatever the Quiver Dance did attatched to it. He had half a mind to quit there and then, but Brycen would never forgive that. They were actually going to fight this thing. "Alright Brycen, if we're gonna win here, we cant afford to make a single mistake, got it. We'll start with Leech Seed, but stay on your toes."
Brycen nodded, planting himself and firing the seeds in the horse's direction.
?Dodge with Flame Charge!?
The added speed from the Quiver Dance made the already swift Rapidash nearly impossible to see as he darted away from the speeding seed, only to envelope his body in fire and charge away, gaining even more speed. ?Now, Sunny Day!?
As Helios came to a stop, a vibrant light collected in his horn, which shot towards the sky. A bright light surrounded the field, causing the fire that made Helios? mane and tail grow brighter.
Brycen's confidence dissolved into nothing as he was now face with the intensely burning pokemon. He glanced back at his trainer for some sort of guidance, but Drew simply stared with wide eyes and the combination of buffs Renia had just put together. He wanted to tell Brycen something, but couldnt bring himself to say a single word. His heart was in his mouth at this point. There was absolutely nothing he could do. Nothing he could say.
They were at a standstill. Drew seemed frozen, and Renia couldn?t seem to make herself call out another attack while her opponent was in such a state. Even Sebastian found himself cringing at the vibrantly burning unicorn; a Flamethrower or Fire Blast, boosted by Quiver Dance and Sunny day? He slowly raises his arm upward. ?I believe this battle has come to its end.?
Something clicked in Drew's head as Sebastian said those words. Come to an end? He glanced up at Brycen. The Quilladin was watching him intently. They both knew, they werent about to be humiliated like that. Drew's team had suffered enough. For them to not even attempt the final hurdle? "Not a damn chance!" Drew growled. "Brycen, another rollout!" He ordered, with about as much conviction as he'd had throughout the entire battle.
She didn?t want to do this. She really, really didn?t want to do this. Drew was going to be so upset, heck, Minako was going to be upset. Renia shook the saddening thoughts from her head. ?Meet it with Mega Horn!?
Helios bows his head, his horn gleaming in the synthetic sun as he charges towards the rolling chestnut, ready to pierce with his horn.
The impact caused a resounding crack to resonate through the area. Brycen was stopped dead in his tracks, with the horn piercing his shoulder. Yet somehow...somehow, the grass type was still standing. He clung tightly onto the head of the Rapidash. Even then, with the horn in his shoulder, Brycen found a reason to smile. This was the kind of battle he wanted. No more push overs, dirty tricks or being outnumbered.
"Now, Leech Seed!" Drew chuffed, with a relieved expression as he noticed Brycen's smile. Had they actually just been given a chance?
Renia flinches. She can?t be a sitting Ducklett, she can?t do that to Helios. It?s not fair to him, and it?s not fair to Drew not to give it her all after she promised she would. ?Flame Charge!?
With the grass type still stuck to his horn, the unicorn once more erupts into flames as it begins to charge, taking the spiky ball Pokemon with him.
Drew felt his whole body shudder as heard Brycen's cries of pain, as the grass type was burned to a crisp. If the battle wasnt over before, it certainly was now. Without even a pokeball to return him to, the young trainer was left to watch his starter be tossed to the ground in a smuldering heap by the flaming horse. His hand fell limp, as he'd been clenching it tightly into a fist for the past however long the battle had gone on for. To Drew it felt like hours. He hadnt even managed to defeat one of Renia's pokemon. Was he so far behind? "I guess that's it then." He sighed, glumly staring down at Brycen.
?Phew?? Renia hangs her head as she kneels slightly, her hands resting against her hips. She didn?t realize she had been trembling for so long. That was...intense.
?Brai, brai!? Selkie shouts from their makeshift referee stand, she tugs on Sebastian?s pant leg with one hand while pointing to the defeated Brycen with the other.
Sebastian nods, reaching for one of his Pokeballs and calling out his Comfey. ?Use Floral Healing, please.?
The supportive fairy floats towards Brycen, circling him as little flowers rain from his vines. As they land on Brycen, they absorb into his skin, healing his charred fur.
?I don?t know how you pulled that off, Drew.? Sebastian smiles as he walks closer. ?I never would have had the nerve to challenge someone so much more experienced...much less continue on after that Sunny display.?
The fourteen year old didnt brighten up at all as he watched his starter pokemon struggle back to his feet. After a loss like that, there was no way he was going to beat Grant. He'd definitely need some time clear his head. "Well...I'm gonna go." He stated rather abruptly. "I've got a gym battle coming up."
?You?re going to do great!? Renia cheers as she walks up to her fellow trainers. From what she saw, she can think of so many ways for Drew to really kick Grant?s butt. He has a steel type, a fighting type, a grass type...Gligar probably shouldn?t go in, although...she should probably keep her mouth shut. Now that she?s up close, she can see how upset Drew is. She looks down to her feet, not noticing a shaking ball in her bag until it bursts forth to reveal Minako, who blushes deeply as she squeaks out...something to Brycen. From what Renia can gather, it?s something about how brave and strong he is.
Brycen winked at the Steenee with a wry smirk, before nodding and following his trainer off into the distance. No doubt, he and Drew had some regrouping to do.
? Shiny Stone
2x Team Plasma Pin
Cloned Gyrados Embers
Green and Black dust
Pickaxe
Pro Racers Black Jacket (E)
Red Rangers Jacket
~
Clutching his fists together, Chris? eyes were locked in both shock and horror over the battlefield. Aero sat mid screech completely encased in a stalagmite of pure ice. What the hell had he just watched? In a single move, an extremely powerful Pok?mon had just been removed from the field.
?Tch.? Chris hissed as he snatched one of the Pok?balls from his belt. ?I won?t lose.? He hissed as he clicked the button to release the sword Pok?mon contained within. ?No holds barred.? Chris muttered looking towards Grant, who was grinning in the excitement of the battle. His fingers brushed the pulsating purplish stone that Sebastian had traded him for.
Standing over the gym that Grant commanded, Chris eyed the battlefield. Five Pok?mon in his arsenal, three able to battle in this regulation match. Chris had been well acquainted with Grant?s on Pok?mon. Tyrantrum was the real powerhouse in his roster, but Aurorus wasn?t to be laughed at either.
?Aero. My fossilized friend. Let?s do this.? Chris spoke as he called forth the Pteradon Pok?mon in a flash of light.
?Aurorus, let?s make this first battle of the day one worth remembering!" Grant called from his own platform above the battlefield.
Chris eyed the battlefield as he waited for the gym referee to call the start. The Aurorus was a bulky and tall Pok?mon, Aerodactly would certainly have the speed advantage but it would take a few hits to bring down.
?GYM MATCH BEGIN!?
?Aero swoop around and pelt it with a steel wing!? Chris commanded, wasting no time as the match begins.
The Pteradon Pok?mon flew forwards at almost supersonic speed as its wings sliced into the frills of the ice type fossil Pok?mon. The high pitched resonant whine of the Pok?mon almost made Chris want to cover his ears, but at the same time was a distractingly beautiful sound.
?Aurorus! Let?s start our routine!? Grant called from atop the stadium.
With the ringing echo of the dinosaurs song, the air around them began to grow frigid as a thick fog began to pour into the stadium and a cloud of ice began to form in the air between Grant and Chris. A thick sleet storm began to trickle downwards as a diamond dust began to spray the Pok?mon and the field below.
?Aero, Pelt it with steel wing again!? Chris shouted over the clinking of small stone sized ice cubes pelting the battlefield below.
The bird Pok?mon soared forward, once again smacking into the aurora Pok?mon and leaving a tear in the frills.
?Aurorus, spread your mist!? The rock type gym leader responded.
The fog around the Pok?mon seemed to sparkle with a mystical shimmer as an ability protecting barrier formed around the Pok?mon.
?Gahhh!? Chris exhaled. The excitement building in him. ?KEEP GOING AERO!? He shouted, watching as the rock and flying type Pok?mon continued to be pelted by the hail as it slashed once again into the now somewhat significantly damaged ice dinosaur.
?Enough playing around.? Grant chuckled as he uncrossed his arms and stepped towards the edge of his platform. ?Aurorus. Hyper Beam that beautiful specimen.?
As the ringing song of the Pok?mon emanated from it, a thunderous white energy crackled in its mouth, the frosty mist infusing it as the energy built up within. As the frosty refrigerated hyper beam blasted forward, leaving a trail of ice in its wake.
Clutching his fists together, Chris? eyes were locked in both shock and horror over the battlefield. Aero sat mid screech completely encased in a stalagmite of pure ice. What the hell had he just watched? In a single move, an extremely powerful Pok?mon had just been removed from the field.
?Tch.? Chris hissed as he snatched one of the Pok?balls from his belt. ?I won?t lose.? He hissed as he clicked the button to release the sword Pok?mon contained within. ?No holds barred.? Chris muttered looking towards Grant, who was grinning in the excitement of the battle. His fingers brushed the pulsating purplish stone that Sebastian had traded him for.
No.
Chris hand drifted to the next Pok?ball. Yamask. His second Pok?mon could negate that refrigeration ability. He could also disable hyper beam.
?Yamask will be my second Pok?mon.? Chris called as he brought forth the golden mask wielding ghost Pok?mon.
?Round Two! Aurorus versus Yamask!? The referee called.
?Yamask, start off by disabling hyper beam. No more of that.? Chris called with a hint of frustration and anger in his voice.
The glint of the mask could have been easily overlooked, but nonetheless the effect took hold.
?So that?s your play.? Grant mused, scratching his chin with a bemused smile. ?Aurorus. Ancient power.?
Several stones ripped themselves free from the battlefield and hurled themselves towards Yamask, smashing into the ground around the ghost, several splinters cutting apart the shadowy form. However as it did so, the frilled Pok?mon seemed to be cast in shadow as the icy mist around it partially dissipated.
?Mummy is certainly an interesting ability.? Grant called from his stand. ?Luckily for me, It?s not Aurorus? only strength.?
?Scatter your toxic spikes Yamask!? Chris called, and the Pok?mon quickly did so.
As the hail continued to peter down, Yamask looked at Chris and closed its eyes as its body began to glow with a white light that was quickly twisted and deformed by the shadowy interior.
Bursting forth from the evolutionary light, the new Cofagirus stepped? or floated rather, forward towards the weakened dinosaur Pok?mon. The golden mask having become a heavyset golden sarcophagus and the red eyes glaring forward with a newfound strength and passion, Its creepy and astonishing approach seemed to take a toll on the dinosaur. Chris gazed upon it with a look of pride and awe. Taking inspiration in his Pok?mon?s newfound strength, the young archeologist stepped onto the edge of his own platform to match Grant?s gaze.
?Let?s finish this.? He called forth.
And with that, the flash of red light pulsated from the eyes of the coffin as an ominous wind blew through the arena, the sleet storm temporarily being cast away from the coffin and chunks of ice and rock being pelted against the dinosaur, taking it down to its knees.
?Very well.? Grant called with a smile as a flash of light returned Aurorus to its Pokeball. ?As you said. No holds barred.?
The roar of the Tyrantrum shook the entire arena. The ice shattered beneath the feet of the tyrannosaurus. Steam flew from the nostrils of the king of dinosaurs as it glared at Christopher, remembering its prey from the race. He would not be bested by this tiny creature twice.
?Round Three! Tyrantrum VS Cofagirus!? The announcer called.
However, as the Tyrantrum crunched into the ice, it was caught off guard by the sudden stinging sensation in its foot. The toxic spikes from before had still been scattered around the battlefield, as the entrance of the reptile had been prepared for.
?I suppose I?d best finish this quickly then.? Grant said with a nod in Christopher?s direction. ?No matter. Tyrantrum. Elemental Fang combination!?
The dinosaur lowered its head and began to charge forward, it?s massive steps crushing the terrain below it as its tail destroyed some of the terrain as it smashed from side to side. The elemental energy began to buzz around the jaws of the Pok?mon as its massive teeth came down? around the shield of protection around the coffin.
?Oh? clever. Very good play.? Grant laughed, caught off guard. ?You didn?t even need to call that out. You?ve trained this Pok?mon very well.? Grant cheered.
Chris felt mildly guilty, having received the Pok?mon mostly already trained. However, it was his time and effort that had allowed the Pok?mon to evolve. He was still it?s trainer.
As the Tyrantrum began to slowly step away from the golden sarcophagus, its pants left thick white clouds in the air around it. However, it quickly let out a roar that caused several of the loose rocks to fly forward to pelt the coffin as the fossil Pok?mon unleashed its ancient power.
(?That move seems to have exhausted it? I can?t imagine how much power it must have put into it. Grant has to be extremely frustrated that it failed? Dios Mio am I glad it did though.?) Tough Jaws coupled with elemental attacks? It practically made the Icey hyperbeam look like child?s play.
?Night shade!? Chris called out, and the now moderately dented coffin Pok?mon began to raise its shadowy hands and wave them about.
The Tyrantrum seemed to be taken aback for a split second, before its steely demeanor returned to glare towards the trainer as it began to rear its head back for a roar, before turning to the side and vomiting up from the poison.
??? Grant?s smile faded. ?I see.? He sighed, mildly disappointed. ?While not completely defeated yet, I?m going to call this battle here. With you still in control of an untouched Pok?mon, and Tyrantrum?s pride going to cause it to do more harm to itself than I personally want my friend to experience? Christopher Rodriguez. I hereby congratulate you and award you with this official Pokemon league badg-?
?Keep it.? Chris said with a shrug.
?What?? Grant asked in confussion after a half of a moment.
?I?m not taking on the league. I only challenged you to see the fossil Pok?mon?s strength, which you?ve shown me. Muchos Gracias my friend.? Chris explained with a smile.
??well then.? Grant responded, mildly surprised, but respectful of the young archeologist?s opinion.
Thankfully, before too much of a scene could be started, Emma decided to have Avril and all the spectators of her fellow blonde's battle to step outside of the gym so that Grant would have time to recover his pok?mon and a chance to straighten up the battlefield from the previous battle. Somehow, Avril had managed to keep her cool while they were leaving. However once they got outside, the youngest of the group wasn't able to contain her feelings about bumping into her older sister. Avril still hadn't really gotten over running into her father just the other day, and now her sister, the one person she was aiming to surpass and beat the most, had not only managed to track her down but spectated her match as well?
"Alright, alright... So what do you want? Did dad send you out here or something?" Avril asked, wasting no time in attempting to interrogate her older sister. "Look, if you're trying to convince me to come home... I'm not going to."
"Woah, woah... Take it easy there, Avril. There's no need to be so short," Robin replied, raising her hands up as if to tell Avril not to shoot. "I mean, I know you can't really help the height thing, but..."
Avril rolled her eyes at the brunette's pun. "Arceus, three years and you're still running around telling those awful puns."
"Hey, I always stick with what gets a laugh!" Robin replied, the smile never falling from her lips as she spoke. "Besides, the jokes have been known to knock 'em dead! Some people don't stand a ghost of a chance against them." Avril narrowed her eyes, the girl groaning inwardly as pun after pun managed to fall out of her older sister's lips. "Look, is it too much to believe I just happened to be in town when you did? Besides, I was honestly hoping to run into you, with it being your birthday and all that sort of thing!"
?Oh! Duuuuh, hello, Emma! I knew I almost forgot something,? Emma said henceforth, slapping herself on her forehead. ?With all that?s been going on lately, I almost forgot it was your birthday today.... sorry. Ah, but happy birthday Avie. You?re now 18!?
Avril glanced between the two girls, a somewhat embarrassed look gracing her features. Emma wasn't the only one who almost forgot about it being her birthday. Avril herself had somehow managed to forget it was her own birthday. The girl had somehow managed to lose all track of time ever since she left Lumiose, what with all the encounters with Team Cinder and the like.
"Oh... Um, thanks Emmie!" Avril replied, managing to recover from her slip-up.
Ugh. This girl's humor is the same as Sasha's. Sasha wasn't really witty enough to come up with Arceus-awful puns, but she always laughed at them. Always.
Victoria's annoyed expression quickly vanished at the news that it was Avril's birthday. This calls for a celebration-- after they ditch Robin. Avi doesn't seem to want her around. "Happy birthday, Avi~" She purrs, her Pokemon crying out in agreement.
?This is for you,? Emma began, reaching for her hand bag. She took out what it seemed to be a doll - a doll of a Lopunny seemingly like her own sailor garden our doll. ?Sailor Gardevoir can?t fight crime without Sailor Lopunny! Kind of like... I can?t imagine my life without you as my friend.?
Avril had to fight back every urge she had to squeal at the sight of the gift that Emma had presented her with. After all, it wouldn't do much to make a scene like a child in front of Victoria... much less Robin. Avril had a feeling her older sister wouldn't let her live it down if she did so. The birthday girl carefully took the gift from Emma, a small smile making its way to her lips as she did so.
"Oh, Emmie... It's so cute..." Avril said softly, looking at the doll fondly. "Thanks, I absolutely adore this!"
"Well, you better brace yourself because 'Emmie' there isn't the only one who brought ya a gift, kiddo," Robin chimed in. The girl knelt down for a moment, sliding the trainer's bag she had been carrying off her shoulder. Avril watched her older sister carefully, mentally preparing herself for the chance that the brunette would try to trick her with something that could embarrass her in front of Victoria and Emma. The blonde wouldn't put it past the older of the two Morris sisters to do something of the sort. Robin's eyes eventually lit up, the brown-haired girl clearly finding what she had been looking for. "Aha! Here we are!"
Avril watched as Robin pulled out a small, spherical stone. It sort of resemebled a marble of sorts. The stone was completely clear, save for the yellow and red design that sat in the middle. It really was quite pretty to look at.
The only one without a gift. Also the only one who hasn't spent a birthday with Avi before, and who couldn't possibly have known. That's fine, she'll insist on taking Avril to dinner once they get rid of Robin, and then she can sneak off to buy her a gift while--
Is that a Mega Stone? How is she going to compete with a Mega Stone? Damn it.
?A Mega Stone...? Emma observed. ?This is... an Ampharosite! One of the rarer stones around. Amazing..?
"Mega Stone...? Is that what this thing is...?" Robin questioned, glancing over at the detective. "I... Had no idea that this thing was Mega Stone..."
Avril looked at her older sister in disbelief. "You were walking around with a Mega Stone and you didn't even know what it was?"
"Hey, HM01 me a break!" Robin replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I've heard of 'em, but Mega Stones weren't really going around as front page news when I graduated unlike you guys."
?So you graduated from the academy as well?? Emma asked. ?Huh. Still, it?s quite fortunately managed to get one. With a Mega Stone, one will surely... rock the competition.?
"How in the world did you manage to find it, anyways?" Avril questioned.
"Well... I've had it now for a few months. I found the thing over in Azure Bay... You've heard of that place, right? That little enclosure of water just north of Fourrage Road?" Robin began. "Well, anyways... I decided I wanted to a little fishing, you know some private time and have some time just for me and my thoughts. Anyways, while I was doing so my line ended up getting snagged on something. No matter how hard I tried to pull, the damned thing just reel in. I really didn't wanna to abandon the thing, so I sent one of my pok?mon down to investigate. It turned out that... somehow, it managed to get snagged on this funny lookin' stone. I didn't think much of it at the time. Sure, it was pretty but... I guess I just thought it was that, a pretty stone. I eventually just stuck it in my bag and... I guess I forgot I had it until recently."
Victoria hides her look of ?bullshit.? Robin just ?happened? to run into Avril and just ?happened? to have a Mega Stone in her bag, a Mega Stone perfectly suited for Avril? She really came all this way just to give her sister a pretty marble, and it ?just so happened? to be one of the rarest things in existence? A marble that weighs a couple ounces at best, but got snagged in a fishing rod and couldn?t be pulled up? This cannot be real. What?s this girl?s angle? She?s got to keep a close eye on this one.
?That?s... incredibly lucky,? Emma noted. ?Or incredibly fishy??
"Hey, that's pretty good!" Robin replied with a grin. "I like you. Any chance you'd like to be the one Avril has a thing for?"
"W-Would you shut up?!" Avril quickly shouted, her face beet red from Robin's rather blunt question. "There's no way you didn't know you were holding onto a Mega Stone, much less the fact that you just happened to be waiting to give it to me, even if it is my birthday! So, what's your angle? What do you want?"
Robin was a bit taken back by Avril's sudden anger. "What are you on about? Why is it so hard to believe that I'm giving my baby sister something like this for her birthday?"
Avril huffed. "Because you always do things like this. Ever since we were little, you always found someway of putting me in your debt for something or holding something over my head. So, just get on with it and lemme know whatever it is you're planning or wanting!"
Avril?s words were enough for Victoria to shed her ?perfectly pleasant? mask. With narrowed, untrusting eyes, she takes a few steps closer to Avril, standing ever so slightly between her and the obnoxious brunette. ?You?re not very good at this game. Want to give the truth a try??
?Now hold on you two,? Emma tried to softly address. ?I?m sure she has good intentions either way? Grilling her isn?t really necessary...?
"Yeah, listen to the lady over here!" Robin retorted. The brunette sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Look... I'm not gonna lie. I know things haven't always been exactly... pleasant between us, Avril. But... we're both adults now, yeah? Don't you think that's a good reason to forget the past and start things over fresh?"
?I know this song and dance. It ends with you asking for a favor now that things are patched up, right?? Victoria asks, rather bluntly. She has played enough people in her life to spot when someone wants or needs something from another person. Her foster father was one of the best in the business, though bird-girl here might be right up there.
Robin narrowed her eyes at Victoria. "Look, I know that's how the clich? goes for things in movies and books and all that jazz, but this is real life, and between me and Avril, alright? I'm not saying she has to do anything of the sort, but..." The brunette paused, turning her attention back towards Avril. "I sincerely think it would be nice... Please, Avril...?"
Avril stared at the Mega Stone in Robin's hands for a moment, before adjusting her gaze to look in the older girl's eyes. The blonde trainer stared at the eyes intently, as if she was studying the girl for any signs of an ulterior motive. The more she stared at the girl however, the more Avril's glare began to soften, her hardened expression crumbling away. Robin was right, the two had never really gotten along all that well... But part of that seemed to come from the way her father and mother had raised them. Robin couldn't help that and... the girl did seem to be sincerely sorry about the rift that had managed to form between them during all those years.
"I... Well..." Avril stammered, the girl seemingly still fighting herself over whether or not she was truly making the right decision. "I... I guess you're right..."
A sigh of relief escaped Robin's mouth. "Oh, Avril... Thank you so much!" Without warning, the Brunette hopped forward and threw her arms around the shorter and younger girl. Avril seemed to be surprised by the sudden display of affection, but eventually and rather awkwardly did seem to return her sister's hug with one of her own. "I promise, you won't regret this. I really do."
?I?m happy for you both,? Emma claimed. ?Robin, I must thank you as well. Soon we?ll all be ready for the trials ahead.?
Is this really happening? Avril cannot possibly trust those eyes, and Emma, she?s a detective, though everyone can have their senses dulled from wanting something badly enough. Seems Detective Blondie wants Avril to be happy so badly she can?t see that the brunette is obviously working an angle. It would be adorable if it wasn?t incredibly frustrating.
Avril nodded, taking the Mega Stone from Robin with a soft smile. "Well... thanks then, Robin. I promise I'll take good care of it."
"Good to hear. That thing wasn't easy to come by, so I hope you enjoy it!" Robin smiled brightly. "Well... I guess I should be getting on so you guys can do something special with Avril for her birthday... Oh, wait! You've got a holocaster, right?" Avril nodded, pulling hers out of her trainer's bag. "Then let's exchange information so we can get together every so often, yeah?" Avril agreed and the two sisters exchanged their holocaster information. Once the exchange was complete, Robin offered her younger sister one more smile before turning and making her way down the road and away from the gym. "I'll catch you later, Avril! Take care of yourself, okay?!"
"Farewell Miss Robin, take care," Emma called after her with a smile. She then... had a more serious expression as she turned to Victoria. "...Sorry Avril, can I speak to Victoria alone for a second?" she asked sternly.
"Huh...? I guess so," Avril replied, glancing at the detective with a curious look on her face.
Not easy to come by? Wasn?t her story that she just happened upon it while fishing? So, not only is she trying to pull one over on Avril, she sucks at it. Victoria strides over towards Emma when the girl makes the invitation, her annoyed expression easing back to...almost a pleasant one. ?Oooh, are we planning secret birthday activities?? She purrs. Of course not, Emma wants to talk about what just happened. Did she...did she catch onto it too? Was that supportive best friend thing an act? Hot damn.
Emma grabbed Victoria's right arm, as she directed her a little off side, a fair distance away from Avril to where she couldn't hear them.
"...I know how you feel," Emma began. "I couldn't say it in front of where Robin could hear and cause Avril to worry needlessly - I don't trust Robin either."
Victoria?s shoulders drop as she breathes a quiet sigh of relief. ?Thank goodness.? Untrusting eyes once more scanned the area, if only to triple check that no one was going to sneak up on their newly formed alliance of distrust. ?But Avril??
"I know," Emma pointed out. "Avril doesn't know what's going on... so it's going to be up to us to somehow prove it, before it's too late."
Victoria?s lips ease into a pleased smirk. Alright, fine, this one?s not so bad. The thief extends her hand towards the detective. ?Partners in...truth finding??
"Yes," Emma replied, gripping Victoria's hand. "Until then... please, watch out for her. I'll be doing research about owners of that mega stone."
?I can do that~? Perfect. With Emma?s connections, she can track down missing Mega stones than Victoria can. She would have to snoop, Emma can just ask. Letting go of Emma?s hand, she offers a cheeky salute. ?Good luck-- watch out for Robin.? Speaking from personal experience; people who are willing to steal Mega Stones are generally willing to do whatever it takes to keep them.
Leaving Emma to do her detective thing, Victoria makes her way back to Avril-- who has a small collection of twigs, stones and berries at her feet, no doubt thanks to Marie. ?Your buddy?s gotta make a detective-ing phone call. She?ll be with us shortly.?
Avril, who had been busy thanking Marie for what must have been the twentieth time for her next gift, glanced up at Victoria with a smile. "Oh...? Something must've come up or something... Maybe that guy she works with gave her a ring... Um, is everything okay?"
?Looked pretty by the book to me, not that I?m an expert on detective lingo.? Victora bends down to scoop the pink kitten into her arms before she delivers yet another ?gift? to her. Silly thing, her heart?s in the right place. ?Why don?t we take Avi out to lunch, huh?? She asks the kitten, who cries out in delight at the idea.
"Hey," Emma called out, approaching the duo. "Sorry about that. Er, it looks like... I'm needed elsewhere. Sorry Avril... are you two going to lunch? You can send the bill to my tab."
"Aww... Are you sure? I probably have enough to cover it," Avril replied.
"It is your birthday after all," explained Emma. "I don't mind! Really. But... yeah, you two have fun. Call me anytime."
Usually this time of money-throwing causes Victoria to roll her eyes, this, however, is a special occasion. It?s Avril?s birthday, and the lunch is serving to distract from the fact that her sister might be a wanted criminal. Victoria cuts her eyes to Emma, and to the side farthest from Avril, flashes a subtle thumbs up. ?We?ll save you a cupcake!? She calls as she turns on her toes, grabbing Avril by the hand.
Avril felt her cheeks heat up once more as Victoria started to drag her away. The birthday girl managed to glance over her shoulder as she was being led away from the gym, offering her best friend a quick smile. "O-Okay! Thanks, Emmie! I'll see you later!"
?So~? Victoria spoke up as they walked back to the more populated area of Cyllage. ?Emma let it slip there?s a trainer you like.? She tilts her head towards her blonde companion with a look of playful curiosity. ?Wanna tell me who it is??
The thief watches for several seconds, knowing she had at least that much time for Avril to fumble over her words. She then takes a daring step forward, leaning close to the shorter teen and pressing her lips softly against Avril?s own. ?...Happy birthday, Avril.?
Date at Stage Start: July 2nd | Time at Stage Start: 10 AM
The long awaited second gym challenge is now behind the majority of the Aquacorde graduates. With each obstacle overcome, trainers grow wiser and their pokemon stronger, quicker, more versatile.The continued growth from these experiences continues to lead the young group of trainers toward truly being legends of the future, but for now they must tackle the past.
The ominous Menhir Trail looms. A graveyard and memorial site for, not only the victims of AZ's original firing of the ultimate weapon 3,000 years ago, but the victims of the Geosenge Town tragedy at the hands of team flare just two years ago aswell. Each Menhir stands at the head of a grave in what is Kalos' largest and now most famous cemetery. The cemetery is home to many pokemon, given its general lack of human presence, it houses many ghosts and stranger pokemon that avoid towns and cities.
Menhir trail is a large route however, and has much more to offer than a visit to those whom have past. Exploring the many off branching paths that diverge from the main trail can often be very rewarding for the any brave trainer that dares to do it. Hidden tunnels, rare pokemon nests and many other secrets mean Mehir Trail is far from the simple road it seems like at first glance.
Pokémon Available (Level 36-38):
Menhir Trail:
Pokémon available to those using a Great Ball(Level 38-40):
Pokémon available to those using on Mission 6(Level 36-38):
[EVENT BATTLE] OPEN ★ Mission 1:
Violet City Gym Leader Falkner said:
Details:
Falkner, the gym leader of Violet City in the Johto region, has been seen on Mehir Trail. The gym leader makes a trip to Kalos yearly to see all the bird pokémon as they make their yearly migrations to the region. While one could say that this would qualify as a vacation for Falkner, the bird specialist still likes to take the time to train his own bird pokémon. Chances are he would gladly welcome an opponent or two test the fruits of this training.
Route 10 is home to a very interesting place. It is similar to the Safari Zone, but with a catch: Only Pokemon of a particular type will appear to a trainer, and that type of Pokemon varies, depending on who the trainer brings with them. Because of this, the locals have given this place the fitting name of 'Friend Safari.' Why not grab a friend and see what you can find? (Types will be determined by Shak)
OPEN Mission 1:
Move Tutor Joey is finally ready to start the next chapter in his life. The problem? He's not really attracting much business as of yet. Perhaps his reputation has a troublemaker preceeds him or maybe he's just having trouble actually teaching pokémon moves. Regardless, maybe a helping hand will help push Joey in the right direction.
Reward:
Fire Punch, Ice Punch, or Thunder Punch can be learned if you have a pokémon capable of learning it.
Mission 2:
Hex Maniac Maria absolutely adores all things of the occult and ghosts. As such, she is constantly found amongst the tombstones, doing her best to try and spook all those who travel the route using her gaggle of ghoulish pokémon. While at times, the spooks she manages to put forth are indeed spine-tingling, the girl seems to have no remorse that the route is in fact a shrine to remember those who have been lost. Perhaps the Hex Maniac could use a lesson in proper etiquette, either through words or battle.
Reward:
Geist Ball x3 (A special Poké Ball used to make catching ghost-types easier. It works as a normal Poké Ball otherwise.)
OPEN Mission 3:
Staring out amongst the graves of human and pokémon alike, a giant of a man seems to be stricken with grief. With a heavy heart, he seems to have a story to tell of a foolish king who almost brought forth the destruction of all of Kalos. Perhaps such a legend has stirred up an unpleasant memory. Maybe there is something to be learned from the tale. Regardless, hearing the tall stranger out could prove to be quite an enlightening experience.
Reward:
Rose Incense
Mission 4:
A wild Granbull has been causing trouble for a group of Nidoran just trying to live peacefully. This Granbull, along with his two Snubble subordinates, keeps attacking the grove they call home and stealing all their hard earned berries. This sort of action cannot go unchallenged. Lend the Nidoran a hand, and they might be willing to give out a reward for your hard work and courage.
Reward:
Moon Stone
Mission 5:
It's been a nice little break, but nothing good ever lasts forever. Reports are a Team Flare grunt of all people has been seen lurking about the route, often being spotted near a grave stone in particular. The odd thing is that outside of constantly visiting the grave, this grunt hasn't been really up to anything suspicious. Could this be an act just to throw people off the trail of something bigger? Could she be planning to revive the fallen team? Perhaps a little investigating is in order...
Reward:
Flame Thrower TM and 1,200 Poké
Mission 6:
With so many Pokemon losing their lives to Team Cinder, the graveyard is full of unrest. A Spiritomb has been spotted lurking around the graveyard, and locals believe it is tormenting the souls of the newly departed Pokemon. Get the Spiritomb to leave the graveyard through any means necessary, so the poor spirits may rest in peace.
Reward:
Spell Tag
Mission 7:
A wild Hawlucha has bested all its friends during their latest wrestling tournament, and is now looking for new challengers. If your Pokemon can pin this luchador down for ten seconds, it's certain to give you a trophy for you victory.
Reward:
Blackbelt or Amulet coin
Mission 8:
All Tourist Matoki wanted was to take some all the bird Pokemon that call this route their home. Unfortunately, however, her simple desire seems to have gotten her lost. Someone should probably step in and help her get back to Cyllage city, before the local wild Pokemon come after her for her bag full of Poke-snacks.
Reward:
Rare Candy
Mission 9
Sometimes being the odd man out is quite the challenge. There's nothing wrong with different, but we've all
been there. Being singled out because you might be short or your hair is a different color, we can all relate. Oddly enough the sort of thing doesn't just happen with people, but pokémon too. Located within a flock of wild Hoothoot, one pokémon in particular yearns to prove its worth and stand up to those who treat it like something is wrong because of its difference. Will you be bold enough to stand with this pokémon and help prove its worth? Assist it in battling against the elder Noctowl and show that its difference is not a handicap.
Reward:
Rowlet (No Egg Moves)
Mission 10:
A Yanma is being chased through the forest by a very angry man. Upon further inspection, it seems the Yanma managed to flap its wings so hard that it shattered the windows of the angry man's bakery. Of course the little bug didn't mean to, but it doesn't seem like the baker is in the mood to listen. Someone, please help the innocent Yanma!
Reward:
Silver Powder
Mission 11:
Several years ago, Psychic Robert met a trainer whose power he described as "over 9,000." In the years since, he has longed to meet another trainer with such potential. Perhaps you can be that trainer? Battle Robert and his Reuniclus and show him what this year's Aquacorde graduates are made of!
Reward:
Twisted Spoon and 3,000 Poké
Mission 12:
Ruin Maniac Leonard is trying to uncover the mysteries surrounding the tall, stone structures that are found all along the route. While many people just admire them of their presence, Leonard knows that there has to be something else to them. Just how did they get there in the first place? For what purpose were they constructed? Join this Ruin Maniac in his pursuit of the truth!
It had taken him a long and perilous journey to get from his first gym battle to his second, but Kade was now finally facing off against Grant. The Gym Leader stood atop a raised platform overlooking the battlefield across from Kade, who was standing atop a matching pillar. The field below and between them was made largely of stone, with tall spires of irregular height jutting out from the ground at non-uniform intervals. It was the kind of arena that was ideal for Kade's agile, flight-based team, except for one problem. That problem was that Grant was a Rock type specialist. As a result, every single one of Kade's Pokemon was at a type disadvantage.
"This will be a two on two battle. Ready?" a referee said from off to the side, both Kade and Grant voicing the affirmative.
"I hope your ready. This battle's going to be a tough wall to climb." Grant said confidently before tossing a pokeball into the battlefield below. There was a bright flash of light as Grant's first combatant took shape. The glow cleared to reveal an enormous blue beast. It stood on four sturdy legs, had a long neck and a whip-like tail and from its head two shimmering sails extended down along its neck. It let out a surprisingly high-pitched cry. "My Aurorus won't be easy to beat."
Kade couldn't help but agree, and if he were a less down-to-Earth person, he probably would have groaned. Not only was Aurorus a Rock type, but it was an Ice type as well. That meant that it had not one, but two, type advantages over his team. Kade simply grinned, after all, when he eventually had his own gym he would certainly have to face Rock and Ice types. He reached for his own pokeball.
"Floccus, let's go!" he called as the ball burst open and released Kade's own fossil Pokemon, his Archen. The yellow-feathered bird was far smaller than the towering Aurorus, but it made up for its size with agility and enthusiasm. Grant raised an eyebrow at Kade.
"Archen is an interesting choice. Let's see what you've got." Kade nodded his head, happy to oblige the gym leader's request.
"Floccus, Agility!" Kade instructed, his Archen jumping and flapping enthusiastically before suddenly sprinting diagonally forward at speed, getting faster and faster as it weaved through the rocks projecting around it. "Don't let it aim at you!" Floccus darted around its enormous opponent, dashing between its pillaresque legs and the stalagmites. "Okay, Acrobatics!"
Floccus' responded with another joyous cry, an azure glow forming around its wing claws. Now as he rushed past the Aurorus, Floccus would duck under or leap over its towering foe and take swipes at it. The attacks weren't very effective, but the ar slower Aurorus was unable to lock onto the Archen or avoid it, so it could neither dodge or counter attack and quickly stacked up damage.
"I see." Grant acknowledged "You're hoping to whittle me down since you can't overpower me. Have you ever seen how long a cliff takes to erode, Kade? Aurorus, Mist!" The sauropod Pokemon let out another lilting cry as a thick white mist billowed out from around it, enshrouding the battlefield and obscuring Kade's view as well as Floccus'.
The Archen took the only available route, jumping up to attack. Floccus' eye opened wide though as it launched through open space where its opponent used to be and collided with one of the stone spires. From the cloud the Aurous's long neck reached around the pillar, the enormous Pokemon having only taken a few steps back under the cover of the fog. Kade almost winced.
"Ancient Power!" At close range, a wide silver-white ball of energy formed in front of the Aurorus' mouth before it was fired straight into Floccus. The tower of rock Floccus was on exploded from the force of the attack as it carried the Archen across the room, sending it through several more of the obstacles until it came to a halt in a crater in the last one before the wall. "Now, Hyper Beam before it gets its bearings!" Grant instructed.
The prehistoric Pokemon's sails glowed an icy blue as it reared its head back, charging its attack. Kade called for Floccus to move out the way, but he was too dazed from the impact to move out the way. Grant's Pokemon unleashed a colossal icy blast, freezing and shattering stone as it jetted across the battlefield before striking Floccus. The Archen tumbled down to ground, totally defeated.
"Good effort, Floccus." Kade said to his Pokemon as he returned it to its ball. He looked over the now decimated battlefield. Now he was left with a dilemma. He had Contrail, how would take less damage from ice attacks and who could deal massively effective damage to Rock types with Steel Wing, however the Fletchinder also took the most damage from Rock moves. Against such a sturdy opponent, Kade couldn't take that risk. He needed resilience. "Alright, Arcus, your turn!"
Kade releases his Spearow, the small brown bird staring down its giant opponent from the air. Perhaps other small Flying types might have been apprehensive, but Arcus was determined. Once again, Grant raised an eyebrow at Kade's choice of Pokemon.
"You wouldn't happen to only have Flying types by any chance, would you?" the gym leader asked, now quite interested. Kade beamed at the question, proud of his armada.
"Yeah. I really love Flying types. They can be so graceful and elegant and agile, but they can be fearsome and powerful too. No other type has that kind of variety or is so spectacular." Grant chuckled in response.
"I can't deny that there's quite the array of Flying types, but you shouldn't look down on my Rock types. Especially when we're winning. Show me what your bird there's got!" Kade nodded back.
"That's the plan. Arcus, Leer!" The Spearow let loose with a battle cry as it dived for the Aurorus, the fossil Pokemon not even moving, confident it could withstand any attack Arcus unleashed. Arcus shot towards Grant's Pokemon like it was going to attack, but suddenly a look of comprehension formed on the leader's face.
"Wait, did you say Le-" he didn't finish his sentence, Arcus pulled up suddenly, directly in front of the Aurorus' face. Arcus' eyes flashed red, the light reflecting in the Ice type's own larger eyes. The Leer's effect instantly took effect, lowering the Aurorus' defense while Arcus was in a perfect position to strike.
"Fury Attack!" Arcus cocked his head back slightly, then rocketed its beak forward like a pointed piston. Over and over, Arcus hit the Aurorus. Much like Floccus' endeavours earlier, the individual striked did little damage, however with the Pokemon's lowered defenses and prior damage, the combined force of the multiple strikes took their toll.
"Ancient Power!" Grant yelled, regaining his grip on the situation. The massive Pokemon once again formed the great silvery energy sphere, shooting it at Kade's Pokemon at close range. Arcus, knew what to do, he snapped his wings shut and dropped like a stone. The attack flew over Arcus and exploded in the air as the Spearow flared his wings open just before hitting the ground and took off again, flying under the Aurorus to get behind it and beginning to weave through the stone obstacles.
"Arcus, Mirror Move!" Kade instructed. Arcus seemed to become glassy for a brief moment before the now familiar silver orb of Ancient Power formed before it. Arcus launched the attack towards his foe.
"Light Screen!" Grant ordered, a yellow-gold barrier forming in front of the attack. The Mirror Ancient Power broke through the barrier, but was greatly weakened, barely damaging Grant's Aurorus at all. Before the Rock type could retaliate however, Arcus was obscured again by Grant's pillars. "Well if you want to play it that way, try to hide from this." Grant smirked "Hail!"
Ominous clouds formed just under the gym's ceiling and soon after, icy hailstones were falling upon the battlefield. The Aurorus wasn't bothered at all, but Arcus was stacking on damage and being slowed down by the bullets of ice falling over him. He tried to avoid the hail as best he could, but it was greatly affecting his flight.
"Time to finish this up. Hyper Beam!" The Aurorus reared it's head back again as its sails began to glow, then the next instant, it let loose its powerful Refrigerated Hyper Beam, swinging its neck to fire the beam in a wide arc. Arcus flew hard through the hail as the powerful attack swept the field, freezing and then shattering pillar after pillar as it made ground. He was too drained to keep up the pace though, he struggled hard but the hail had weakened him too much and he slowed more and more. The attack soon caught him and froze much of his body as it sent him careening across the room to collide with the wall exactly where Floccus had before. The ice crystals that had formed on him broke as he slid down the wall to the ground, knocked out by the potent super-effective attack.
"The winner is Grant!" the referee declared as Grant returned his Pokemon. Kade congratulated Arcus on a well fought battle, despite his defeat as he also returned him to his ball.
"You used the battlefield well and gave me a harder fight than I was expecting." Grant said "But you need to hit bulky Pokemon like Aurorus hard and relentlessly if you want to breach their defenses. You didn't reach the peak today, but you have potential so come back soon."
"You're back pretty soon." Grant said, legitimately surprised to see Kade standing before him. He'd figured that Kade was the type to strategise after a loss not to blindly persevere, so either Kade had been misjudged or he'd found a solution to his Aurorus-shaped problem. Kade was of the opinion it was the latter. Grant had advised him he needed to be more relentless, rather than skirt the edge of the battle. So he'd taken that advice to heart.
"I guess so." Kade replied "I think I know what to do though, so there didn't seem much point in waiting." Grant smiled back at that, forced to acknowledge that there might be the heart of a real battler underneath Kade's meek exterior. The referee reiterated the rules from the previous battle and both competitors reached for their first choice of combatant.
"Aurorus, time for work." Grant said, tossing forth his pokeball and once again releasing the enormous blue fossil Pokemon. It let out its familiar, lilting battle cry as Kade tossed his own ball.
"Let's go, Floccus!" the flash of light from the opening of the ball subsided to reveal the Archen hopping about excitedly, bubbling with enthusiasm for his second chance at defeating the far larger fossil. Grant was taken aback by Kade's choice, tactics dictated that he would be better off using a Pokemon that he hadn't seen yet. However, Kade was choosing to rely on the Pokemon that had lost to his Aurorus only hours prior.
"I don't think you're ever going to cease to surprise me." Grant said "Your Archen was an interesting choice to begin with, but to use it again in our rematch? I wonder what you have planned."
"I'll show you." Kade grinned. For a few seconds the trainers and their partners sized each other up once more, then the referee gave the signal for the battle begin. Kade wasted no time in going into battle "Acrobatics!"
Where before the Archen had weaved around the pillars evasively, now it sprinted straight towards the Aurorus. Grant smirked, he'd been the one to suggest a more aggressive battle approach so he'd expected as much. As the Archen's claws began to glow with the blue of the sky, he called his counter attack.
"Ancient Power, Aurorus!" the behemoth called back its response as the silvery orb grew before its mouth before launching straight at Floccus in attempt to cut off its attack route. The attack never made contact however as Floccus leapt up and to the side onto the side of one of the stone pillars that dotted the battle ground. The Ancient Power exploded against the ground in a cloud of dust as Floccus began agilely leaping from spire to spire, rapidly closing the distance to his target, his acrobatic movements difficult to aim at. In seconds, Floccus was in the air above the Aurorus, dropping down and raking its glowing claws across its head. Floccus landed in front of Grant's Pokemon as the gym leader yelled for a counter attack. "Ancient Power, again!"
A second sphere of silver energy rocketed towards the Archen, but Kade had the momentum in the battle and he wasn't about to give it up. Just because he couldn't win with speed and agility alone, didn't mean he couldn't use them to his advantage.
"Agility to dodge!" Kade instructed. A split second before taking the Ancient Power head on, Floccus darted forward with a joyous shout, sprinting between the gigantic Aurorus' legs and under its body. The second Ancient Power exploded against the battlefield much like the first as Floccus skidded to a halt behind the Aurorus, but the larger Pokemon instinctively whipped its tail, catching Kade by surprise and smashing his Archen into a pillar.
"Ancient Power, once more!" Grant called, seizing the moment to try and take control of the battle. His Aurorus whipped its head around, using its long neck to take aim without moving from its position. A third Ancient Power was fired at Floccus. The feathered fossil, pushed off of the stalagmite it had crashed into, he avoided the brunt of the attack but was caught by the shock wave and shrapnel it produced and was sent tumbling through air.
"Bounce off a Rock Throw!" Floccus reacted instantly to the instruction, laughing as it formed a rock in front of its wing claws and lightly tossed it ahead. With its momentum it reached the rock and used it to springboard back into the space above the Aurorus and drop onto its back. Grant winced as Kade called his next attack. "Dragon Breath!"
Floccus spat out a torrent of blue and purple flames against the Aurorus' great neck, causing it to cry out in pain. Floccus kept it up, spewing an endless blaze into the Rock and Ice Pokemon. The Aurorus stomped and shook its body, but Floccus wouldn't be dislodged, digging his claws into its back.
"Light Screen, quick!" Grant instructed, a yellow-gold light shimmering across the Aurorus and cutting the damage it was taking from the attack. Floccus kept up the attack though, relying on stacking on the damage rather than dealing a lot all at once. For the first time, something akin to frustration could be seen on Grant's face. "Ancient Power, get rid of it!" The Aurorus turned its head towards the Archen latched onto its back, the gym leader completely missing the wide grin on Kade's face as he took the bait.
Grant's Aurorus fired off the shimmering attack yet again, but once again it failed to make contact with Floccus. The Archen took that moment to leap up and over the larger Pokemon's head, the attack shooting straight into the Aurorus' own back. It cried out again as its own attack brought it down to its knees.
"Acrobatics!" Kade called, seizing the moment. Floccus' claws glowed with an azure light as he dropped past the Aurorus again, striking down on its head and slamming it down into the ground and raking his claws over the top of it. The Aurorus wasn't getting back up any time soon, defeated by relentless, ceaseless attacks.
"Nicely done!" Grant said, withdrawing his fainted Pokemon. "I'm beginning to regret giving you advice. You moved the immovable object, now let's see if you can overcome an unstoppable force." Grant threw another pokeball, sending his final combatant into the free. The light from the capsule gave way to reveal yet another herculean fossil Pokemon, an enormous firebrick-coloured reptile with a powerful jaw filled with razor blade teeth. The Tyrantrum roared, the ferocious sound echoing around the room. Floccus looked at the beastly Pokemon with reverence, excited to face off with such a fearsome foe.
Kade wasn't surprised by the appearance of yet another enormously powerful ancient Pokemon, but he was aware of the challenge he now faced. Grant was about to go on the offensive with a Rock type that outclassed his whole team in raw offensive power. Kade didn't think even Nimbus could match its brute strength.
"Tyrantrum, Ice Fang!" Grant ordered. His Tyrantrum gave another earthshaking roar in response and took off towards Floccus like a runaway truck. Its teeth glowed with frosty energy and a chilled mist escaped from its jaw as it got closer and closer to Floccus.
"Let it get close!" Kade instructed, watching for the right moment as Floccus steeled himself, allowing his monstrous opponent to get rapidly closer and closer. Then, just as the Tyrantrum's jaws were inches from Floccus, Kade have his next command. "Dragon Breath!"
At close range, the blue and purple blaze erupted from Floccus' beak, dealing direct super-effective damage that took advantage of the Tyrantrum's lesser Special stats. This was not a Pokemon that would be so easily defeated though, it was powerful and resilient even in the face of adversity.
"Dragon Tail!" Grant called. His Tyrantrum obeyed, swinging its body as its tail was encased in a shell of green light. The Dragon Breath washed over its body, dealing more damage as it lashed out with its own attack. The Dragon Tail collided with Floccus, all of the Tryrantrum's weight and strength behind the close range attack. Floccus slammed through a line of stone pillars before hitting the ground, instantly knocked out. Grant's Pokemon roared defiantly.
"Well done." Kade said, returning Floccus to the confines of his ball. He looked at the monster before him, he'd made up his mind about his second Pokemon before the battle had even begun and his choice wasn't changing. "Arcus, round two!' he said, releasing his Spearow into the battlefield. Ready to redeem himself, Arcus let lose a determined battle cry but it was drowned out by a bone rattling roar. Arcus didn't flinch, refusing to back down even against the overwhelming odds. "Right, be aggressive." Kade said to himself, preparing himself mentally for the battle ahead. "Get as high as you can, then use Aerial Ace!"
Arcus flapped hard, ascending quickly. Grant wasn't the type to waste an opportunity though, so he gave a command of his own.
"Dragon Dance!" A vibrant red energy spiralled around the despot Pokemon, increasing its Speed and its already fearsome Attack power. Ignoring the now even smaller odds of victory, Arcus reached the top of the room before snapping its wings to its side and streaking down towards the Rock type. Gravity aided Arcus, adding force to its attack, so the Tyrantrum felt the impact on its side where it might otherwise have not even noticed, but it was still able to simply shrug it off. "Now, Thunder Fang!"
The Tyrantrum retaliated with snapping jaws crackling with electricity, forcing Arcus to flap madly in order to narrowly avoid its dagger-like teeth and the super-effective attack. With the Tyrantrum's face up close, Kade was presented with an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
"Fury Attack, Arcus!" Arcus cocked back his heat before unleashing a barrage of piledriver pecks into the Tyrantrum's face in rapid fire succession. The attack stung, but seemed more like an annoyance than anything. Grant's Pokemon growled as it stepped back. Unfortunately, it didn't move back far.
"Ice Fang!" Grant ordered, the Tyrantrum suddenly launching forward with a super-chilled jaw. Arcus flapped harder, but he couldn't completely avoid the attack. The Tyrantrum's mouth closed over his leg, then it swung its head hard tossing Arcus aside like he was nothing and sending him crashing through a rocky obstacle. That might have been the end right there, but Arcus would never give in that easily. He righted himself before reaching the next pillar and then, without needing instructing, took off after the Tyrantrum again.
"Mirror Move!" Kade said. Arcus' beak glowed ice blue, a frosty mist emanating from it as the bird rushed towards its opponent. The abrupt counter attack caught Grant and his Tyrantrum alike by surprise, Arcus rushing straight into the Tyrantrum's body and dealing super-effective damage that made the enormous Rock type howl. Arcus tried to back away, but it couldn't escape the Tyrantrum's great reach.
"Dragon Tail!" The Tyrantrum swung its massive tail, glowing green with dragonic energy, the attack colliding with Arcus and sending him smashing through several more pillars into the ground. Arcus struggled back into the air, emerging up from a cloud of dust, barely hanging on. In truth, that should have been it right there, but the Spearow would never give in.
"That is one gutsy bird." Grant said, his voice audible over a continued low growl from his Pokemon. "I'm not sure how it got back up after that, we'll have to make sure it doesn't have the chance to do that again. After it!" he ordered, not giving Arcus the chance to copy another Ice Fang.
The Tyrantrum took off after Arcus, the bird shooting off between pillars with the gigantic reptile in hot pursuit. The Tyrantrum crashed through the pillars, not bothering to avoid them and instead sending chunks of rock cascading through the air with each obstacle it broke through. Thanks to its powerful legs and the Speed boost from Dragon Dance, it was rapidly gaining on Arcus as he dodged around the stalagmites that his foe could simply plough through. Closer and closer the Dragon type got, Arcus tiring of running. The bird turned tail and suddenly it was streaking towards the incoming Tyrantrum. Arcus erupted in a bright light.
As he got closer to the the Tyrantrum his body changed. He grew larger, his wings grew powerful and wide, his neck extended, his talons extended and his beak lengthened into a spear. Arcus flew low, starting to spin fast like the embodiment of a tornado as the light exploded away revealing his evolved form. The ground around the newly evolved Fearow was torn to shreds as orange-brown strands of energy swirled around its rotating form, Arcus a spinning missile launched for the Tyrantrum with its new Drill Run and newfound power.
"What-" the sentence fell away from Grants mouth as Arcus collided with the Tyrantrum, knocking it over with great force and sending it tumbling across the dirt and debris of the battlefield. Arcus stopped spinning, flaring his now broad wings and ascending again with a few powerful flaps.
"Pursuit!" Kade yelled, caught up in the intensity of the moment. Arcus dived after the Tyrantrum like a javelin, striking the enormous Pokemon in the side as it stopped rolling over the ground and started trying to climb to its feet. Arcus hit it hard, throwing it back of balance and into the ground again. "Follow up with Fury Attack!" Kade said, pressing his advantage, continuing to follow Grant's advice.
Arcus reared back before launching another barrage of bullet-like pecks. Striking the downed Tyrantrum over and over as it fought to return to its feet. The onslaught kept it at bay for a while, chipping away its vitality, but with a furious lunge the Tyrantrum managed to rocket back to its feet, narrowly missing a spontaneous Thunder Fang as Arcus pulled back, rising up into the air. Arcus was breathing hard, he'd taken too much damage, he was more powerful now and as stubborn as ever, but he couldn't keep his offensive up. The Tyrantrum had taken a lot of damage in succession now too though, the battle's climax had arrived.
"That is definitely one gutsy bird." Grant said, admiring Arcus' pure force of will. "Now I understand why you chose to use it again. That's some fighting spirit. It ends here though, I'm not letting you leave with my badge based on guts alone. Tyrantrum, it's time for the Tri Fang." His Tyrantrum roared its challenge to Arcus, the Fearow screeching out its response. The Rock type's fangs erupted into flames, then electricity crackled over them and finally the swirling, misty energy of Ice Fang. without further ado, the Tyrantrum charged.
"This is it, Drill Run!" Arcus shot down to the ground, starting to spin like a vortex again just before he hit the floor, suddenly racing along the ground like a torpedo towards the Tyrantrum. The ground around Arcus was churned and torn up as plumes of brown energy swirled around the rotating bird. The seconds suddenly felt so much longer as the combatant approached each other, both Kade and Grant's hearts in their throats. Then, in an instant, there was the collision. Upon impact, there was an explosive shock wave, destroying the last of the nearby pillars and sending a surge of dust and debris out from ground zero of the Pokemon's clash. When the arena cleared, the Tyrantrum could be seen on its side, knocked out in their final close. Arcus was flapping weakly over it, only a metre or so off the ground. A wide smile formed on Kade's face as Grant's mouth fell open, he couldn't conceal his shock at the outcome. The gym leader eventually grinned back at Kade, shaking his head in astonishment as the referee announced the result.
"Tyrantrum is unable to battle. Therefore, the winner is Kade!" Only then did Arcus allow himself to stop flapping and crash into the ground in a heap.
After his battle with Grant, Sebastian made his way to the lighthouse. According to a message sent by Emma and Laurent, after returning the Lighthouse?s power source, the two were rewarded for their efforts, and were kind enough to explain that they had help in taking the source back from Team Cinder. Those in charge wanted to reward Sebastian and Dahlia for their part in the rescue, and it would be rude to ignore their request.
---
Sebastian pushes open the door to the Lighthouse, smiling as Selkie bounces along behind him. The rewards they were allowed to choose from was a rather large selection of Mega Stones, and with none of Sebastian?s current Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution, he allowed Selkie to pick. Maybe the Psychic powers lying dormant in her genetic makeup were waking, and she could sense that this particular stone would come in handy some day...or perhaps she simply thought the Salamencite was pretty. Either way, she seemed incredibly happy with her selection.
?To route 10?? The redhead asks the bouncing fox.
?Braixen!? She cheers happily in response.
?...Sebastian?? a voice cried out from a little away. It was Emma, with her huge handbag in... hand, just coming off from her hangout with Avril and Victoria. ?Heading to Route 10 I see??
Sebastian paused when he heard his name, called by a familiar voice-- Emma? Turning towards the sound, he flashes a warm smile. ?Indeed. I believe we?ve accomplished all we can here.? Selkie bounces several more times at the sight of a familiar face, then offers an excited wave in Emma?s direction.
?I see,? Emma replied, approaching closer to Sebastian. ?I saw you watching my Gym Battle; I hope it was a big help for you??
Sebastian?s pale skin made any heat rising to his face noticeable, and he was completely certain his cheeks tinted a slight shade of pink when Emma grew closer, and reminded him of his whereabouts that morning. ?It was, very much so.? The teen rubs behind his neck nervously. ?Here I thought I had arrived early enough to be Grant?s first challenger. Seems you were one step ahead of me, detective.?
?Come now, don?t be so formal,? Emma chuckled. ?But, I?m glad to hear that. Someone as strong as yourself ? I doubt you would of had much trouble anyway, haha. But steel yourself; the next gym will be even tougher. Knowing Korrina...?
?My apologies.? Sebastian murmured after being told not to be so formal-- in a very formal way...this is difficult. As was not turning a shade of beet red when Emma called him strong. That...no one had ever said those words when referring to him. ?I was able to watch several videos of Korrina?s battling style while my Pokemon were at the center. I wonder...if she?ll bring her Mega Lucario to challenge us.? That...that could be exciting.
?Indeed...? Emma could only agree. ?My Lucario can?t harness the power of mega evolution yet, so this will be difficult indeed.. say, speaking of Mega Evolution, did Grant tell you about your award??
?He did, we just left the lighthouse.? Sebastian smiles as he glances down to Selkie, who holds the Salamencite out victoriously. ?None of my Pokemon are capable of Mega Evolution, but Selkie seems to think this one will be useful one day.?
?Hmm, perhaps it will,? Emma responded. ?Mega stones are tough to come by, after all. But when fully mastered, the power comes unsurpassable and?? it was then at that moment, Emma?s bag emminated a strong light, as a light source materialized out from inside. Emma was stricken with suprise, and annoyance as a familiar face materialized from the light, right on the ground. Her bagon.
Her bagon let out a small roar, followed up by acratching his hard head with its small claw. Emma flared at it. ?Drago...? she said with a brief sigh. ?How many times do I have to tell you to stay in your pokeball, in that bag?!? she then shouted, but to be replied with Drago the Bagon sticking out his tounge yo her, and dragging out one of his eyelid with his claw. ?Knock that off!? Emma then warned, but now, Drago gave her the cold shoulder. ?Why you little...!?
?My...you?re a troublemaker, aren?t you?? Sebastian watched the interaction with wide, curious eyes. This would almost be humorous, if Emma wasn?t clearly frustrated...and with good reason. He wants to help?
?Xen.? Selkie whispers as she tugs on Sebastian?s pant leg. When he looks down, the young fox holds the new stone out to him. Salamencite...Bagon-- how did she?
?How did you know Emma had a Bagon?? The teen whispers.
?Brai?? Selkie looks thoughtful, eventually answering with a simple shrug of her shoulders. A feeling? Yes, it was a feeling. Someone they knew would need that stone.
?You?ll get your treat LATER if you BEHAVE!? Emma meanwhile told her bagon, who still showed no signs of lessening his attitude. ?And if you stop jumping off of dangerous places! I told you? flying isn?t going to happen yet!? But that just made Drago jump up and down, not waiting for his dream to fly.
Emma simply sighed and shook her head. She finally got out Drago?s pokeball, sending him right back inside to his dismay. ?...I?m sorry about him...?
?Don?t be. We?re no strangers to Pokemon with their own agenda.? Sebastian?s words make Selkie giggle. ?It took weeks for my Mienfoo to stop?? He gestures towards Emma?s Pokeball. ?Do you think?? Sebastian pauses. Is he overstepping his boundaries by asking? He can?t exactly stop mid-sentence. ?The sensation of flight would calm him down??
?Who knows,? Emma shrugged. ?One moment he could dream of flight, another moment, a world of pickles.?
Sebastian laughs; a reaction so alien to him that, once he stops, his stomach tenses. It has been well over a year since he had anything more than a light chuckle to offer. ?Afraid I can?t help you there.?
?Xen.? Selkie whispers as she pushes the stone into Sebastian?s palm. When he doesn?t move, she offers his leg a soft push with her little hands.
Persistent as always, his young fox. After the push, Sebastian takes a reluctant step forward. ?Perhaps this will help.? He speaks softly as he holds out the stone.
?A-A Mega Stone?!? Emma said in shock. ?I can?t possibly accept this-it belongs with you!?
?It belongs with someone who can use it.? Selkie is incredibly confident that Drago the Bagon will one day become a mighty Salamence, and Sebastian has the same amount of faith in Emma.
?Sebastian...? Emma replied shyly. She pondered it for a while. Lucario was one thing, but... can she really develop a bond with Drago? But then... she thought, perhaps it might be better worthwhile to have someone capable on using it... eventually, she reluctantly took it, holding it in the palm of her hand. ?I?ll make good use of it then,? she reassured. ?But still... your kindness knows no bounds. There has to be something I can do for you...?
She then had an idea. ?I think... you?ll be able to....? she then reach to get out the biggest item from her bag. A purple egg with blue patterns. Without a word, she held it forward towards Sebastian.
?You don?t need to--? Egg. An egg with a beautiful design etched against the purple base. Clearly touched, Sebastian offers a flattered smile. ?Emma, there?s truly no need??
?Sebastian,? Emma then said in a more serious tone. ?...This egg is not going to hatch with me. Once upon a time, due to my inexperience... I allowed good people to die. This egg became a ?prize?, but the true essence of this egg represented hope and happiness for those people. But after what happened and what I did... I have no right to hold on to this egg. But I couldn?t just leave it either...?
She then gave Sebastian a warm smile. ?...I sense something good within you. Well, this isn?t the cause of me reading Kagura?s aura readings, but... call it a womanly... detective intuition! That?s why it just occurred to me: I think you?re the only person who I could share this sign of hope with. So please... I want you to take it.?
Pokemon eggs are such curious things: Some can lay dormant for months, or even years, if the conditions aren?t right. Perhaps this one, sensing Emma?s guilt, wished to hold off on its own hatching. It?s a shame, this little one would truly flourish under the guidance of someone so brave and skilled.
Slowly, Sebastian reaches out, his fingertips brushing just slightly against Emma?s own as he takes the egg, which suddenly begins to grow incredibly warm. ?You, Miss Kuzunoha, are the best person I know.? She dedicated her life to helping others, to saving others. She saw the beauty in Feebas and brought out the potential in a Riolu such that it evolved, something that can only happen in the presence of a pure and just aura. ?...And I would be honored to share such a symbol with you.? As those words are spoken, the egg begins to glow, faintly at first, then brighten, until the purple shell bursts opened...revealing a tiny Mareanie.
?A Mareanie...? Emma observed. She then giggled. ?I see. Yes, truly it belongs with you. Please do take good care of it.?
?A poison type. We?ll feel right at home with one another.? Sebastian chuckles quietly. The infant Pokemon squirms in Sebastian?s arm and extends its feelers to wrap around its new trainer?s neck.
?Maaa.? It squeaks as it smiles to Sebastian, and then to Emma.
?...Thank you, Emma...truly. I promise to take good care of this little one.? As he spoke, the small poison type nestles its head against Sebastian?s shirt.
Emma shook her head. ?No... thank you. I can finally... move on.? she looked toward the sky. Kikyo.. it finally hatched. Maybe your dream can live on after all. But I want you to continue watching... the both of us.
?You?re going to do amazing things.? He wasn?t sure if that was his own intuition, or perhaps Selkie?s budding psychic powers were giving them both the tiniest glimpse into the future (did it even work that way?), either way, he was completely certain. ?If you ever need anything...Kira and I will be here for you.? Kira, a name meaning Light, Shining...Hope.
With yet another crushing loss under his belt, Drew was feeling understandably bummed out. Well?he usually would have been. He sat at the ocean overlooking cliff of Cyllage city, bopping his head from side to side. The fishing rod he had been given by Sebastian and Renia?s fisherman friends was firmly, albeit rather awkwardly, clasped between Drew?s two hands. Hardly a conventional fishing method, but Drew cared little for convention. This was like therapy. He let out a satisfied sigh, reeled in an empty hook.
He smiled to Zephyr, who peered in awe as Drew tossed the bait back out into the water. The Gligar had been watching him fish for the past half hour. Despite the fact he hadn?t actually caught anything, the baby pokemon was always impressed every time his trainer pulled the reel back in to check the bait was still there. He?d went over to play with Brycen and Caesar, but both pokemon rejected him in favour of punching their trees and rocks. Zephyr couldn?t get his head around why they didn?t just do it together. It seemed like it would be much more effective that way.
That thought carried the little bat?s mind onto something missing. Levi. The Aron was nowhere to be found. While he was more than happy to sit with Drew and enjoy the yoyo rope, he hopped off of his trainer?s shoulder and took off to scan the area.
After only a few short minutes, he noticed a pyramid of rocks sitting atop the upper ledges of Mauraille coast. The distraction was more than enough to take his mind off of Levi long enough to fly down and check it out.
Renia and Sebastian had once again split up, the elder of the duo claiming there was something he wanted to do in Cyllage before they began their journey towards Shalore, and the thief they planned to encounter there. While Renia was happy to let him finish unfinished business, she halfway expected him to be done by the time she bid her parents farewell and made sure Harmony got her Gothitelle back, and yet she hadn?t heard a word from him.
At least, after all the crazy they had encountered since teaming up to find the stolen Probopass, it was nice to take a relaxing stroll down the coast.
?Steeeeee.? Comes the cry of a little fruit Pokemon as she points to the sky. Looking up, Renia is quick to see what?s caught her grass type?s attention: A Gligar. A very familiar Gligar floating towards a pyramid of rocks...without a sign of Drew.
?Heeey!? Renia calls out, leaping and waving her arms. ?Zephyr!? She waves once more. ?What are you doing out here?!?
Zephyr glanced frantically between the girl and the pyramid, before opting to fly down towards Renia. He was still wary of the Steenee, but Drew had assured him that they werent mean, so he trusted that he could at least be near them without being attacked. As he landed in front of the pink haired girl, the bat pointed curiously in the direction of the pyramid.
?Hey, cutie.? Renia practically beams as she speaks, she didn?t get much of a chance to look at the little bat during their battle-- much less interact with it.
?Nee?? Minako points to the Pyramid for clarification.
?Are you going there by yourself?? Renia asks.
After staring blankly at the girl for a moment, Zephyr darted off toward the pyramid, glancing back to ensure the trainer was following him. As he arrived, he noticed a small metal rock sitting atop the pile.
It was Levi! He'd found him! But where did Levi find this big pyramid? As he drew closer, he found the the Aron was asleep. He gently tapped the pokemon's head, but the sleeping pokemon didnt so much as flinch. He glanced down at where he'd left Drew's pink haired friend.
"Wait!" Renia calls as she rushes after the little bat, with her Steenee hobbling after. She's quickly regretting not getting Drew's number. She'll have to call Sebastian and tell him to call Drew.
As they arrive at the pyramid, Minako quickly rushes towards the sleeping Aron, calling out to the little rock type. Is...he hurt?
The sweet smell of the Steenee caused one of the rocks behind her to sneeze. That rock's sudden movement caused the whole group to shake, and the carefully constructed pyramid to collapse onto itself, taking the Aron and the Steenee in with it.
The now angry and awoken rocks leapt to face whomever had ruined their slumber, and with Zephyr fleeing to Renia's shoulder, the pink haired trainer seemed to be the only culprits.
Renia takes a step back hesitantly as the rocks begin drawing in on her and her new bat friend. Her worried expression turned angry when she noticed the sudden lack of Minako and Levi. "Give our friends back!" She demanded as she reached for a Pokeball from her bag. She called forth her Carbink, Luna, as well as Sparky, before glancing to the Gligar on her shoulder. "Ready, Zephyr?"
"Gar!" The bat screamed, cowaring behind the pink haired girl's shoulder.
Behind him, multiple of the geodude were easily dispatched of as the Steenee and Aron emerged from the mess. Their victories were short lived however, as the attention of the rock type pokemon averted to them.
?No worries, we?ve got this.? Renia smiles confidently to her new shoulder companion. ?Minako, Magical Leaf! Luna, Moon Blast, Sparky, Grass Knot!?
Multicolored leaves shot towards the pile of Geodes, a blast of energy crashed against them as vines reached forward, wrapping around the angered creatures.
Zephyr's eyes widened as he watched the rocks get blown away by the attacks, each one helplessly defeated in a matter of seconds. All except one. He hopped off the pink girl's shoulder and plopped himself down in front of the rock, but was quickly startled when Geodude lunged at him. He responded aptly, knocking the rock back with an acrobatics attack, before cheering as Levi finished the job.
The Aron glanced up at the baby bat. This young pokemon seemed to go through a wave of emotions in that moment. Maybe he needed some consoling over what he'd just witnessed? Then again, Drew could do that. He was good at it. He was quite bewildered by the fact the Gligar had come to find him all the way up here...and laid waste to his pyramid, but no matter. He'd just have to build another.
?Nice job!? Renia cheers as she hops towards the baby bat, which she scoops into her arms. Usually Pokemon look excited when they win their first battle, while this one...doesn?t seem to know what he?s feeling...Or he?s feeling too many things. Poor guy, he was so brave. Giving the baby bat a reassuring hug, she looks down to Steenee and Aron. ?Are you two okay??
?Stee.? Minako replies, seemingly more aggravated than hurt. She is not pleased she allowed herself to be snuck up on...by rocks!
Levi's head nodded. The Aron glanced up at he girl, before glancing down to the beach area where he had left Drew. All of this was done at the typical sedate pace of the steel type pokemon. Even with the pink haired girl here, seeing Zephy here alone was worrying. Without so much as making a noise or making a facial expression, Levi began to return to Drew. As briskly as he could manage.
Head turning, turning, turning...oh! It?s Drew! ?We should get you back to him.? Renia smiles down at Levi as the steel type begins walking back in that direction...a very slow and steady pace. Those little legs and that heavy body don?t make for a good racer, do they? ?Do you want a lift?? She asks as she walks beside the Aron.
The steel type looked up at his Renia, before looking at Zephyr, who was idly looking off into the distance on the girl's shoulder. The baby pokemon certainly did look happy up there, but Levi was always much happier when he could feel some firm rock beneath his feet. He shook his head, and continued forward.
Drew jolted out of his sleep as he noticed his rod being dragged across the rocky coast. All this time, he hadnt noticed that his pokemon were all of doing their own thing. The plan was to train for the battle with grant, but the boy pounced on the oppourtunity to get an hour or so of shut eye. Not that that mattered. There was no chance he was letting his rod get away. As he caught up to the runaway stick, he quickly grabbed it and began to reel in his catch. It was strong. Drew stayed resillient. This could be it. His first fishing catch. This was already so much more rewarding than being a trainer.
With one last wrench at full force, Drew yanked the...seahorse out of the water.
"A...Horsea?" For just a moment, Drew's confused expression held him silent, before he broke into a confident smirk. "I guess the team needed a water type. Maybe if I'd have caught you earlier we couldve beaten Renia's Rapidash." He grumbled with a sigh. As much as he had been able to distract himself, that battle was still a harsh reality check on how far he had to go despite how far he had already come. It was infinitely frustrating.
Renia slowed her stride so Levi could keep up; something about the idea of the those Geodudes coming back for their revenge against the little guy made her incredibly reluctant to leave him to his own accord. They did eventually make it, and Renia?s eyes lit up at the sight of Drew, only to stop dead in her tracks at his words. So...that defeat really got to him. She had to wonder if refusing his challenge would have made him more or less upset. If she had said no, there?s a chance he could have left feeling confident that she didn?t think she could win...instead of a crushed spirit. ?I?m gonna slip away.? She whispers to the bat on her shoulder. ?Good luck today.?
"Gligar!" The bat yelped at the girl's intent. She had come all this way to see Drew, why would she leave now?
Drew paused and turned as he heard his pokemon's cry. "Oh...Renia. Hey." He began rather uninspiringly, unsure how long the girl had been here for. Before she could respond or even turn back to face him, he glanced at her shoulder and then on the ground beside her. "Zephyr...Levi? Why are...where did you guys?" He fumbled with a confused expression on his face.
Busted. Renia?s shoulders tensed when she heard Drew say her name. She put on a cheerful smile and offered an awkward wave. ?Hey, Drew?? Saying something like ?didn?t see you there? probably wasn?t going to fly, considering...she had two of his Pokemon with her. ?I...um...I saw Zephyr flying towards a pyramid, it looked cool so...I went to see what it was. Levi was on top...the pyramid was Geodudes?? It seems she?s leaving out key sentences in her nervousness.
The boy stared blankly at her for a moment unsure of exactly what to respond to first. As he opened his mouth to respond, the sound of the small Horsea fleeing behind him, completely dragged him out of the moment. "Dammit, no you dont!" Without so much as another word adressing the pink haired girl before him, or either of his missing pokemon, he chased the Horsea. With a grand toss of his last pokeball, the blue seahorse was sucked into a red beam of light. Once...Twice...Thr-
With the last rock of the ball, the Horsea snapped the ball open, and squared up to a very determined Drew.
Renia looked nervously between the boy and the Pokemon. Drew really wants this Pokemon, and it?s about to swim away if he doesn?t throw another Pokeball at it...which he isn?t. Is he out? Should she step in? He?ll be mad...he?ll be mad if the Horsea gets away...and to be fair, he?s mad at her anyway...at least this way he has a new friend. If Horsea helps him take on the gym, he can?t exactly stay mad at her forever...Okay. ?Sparky, don?t let it get away!?
Flying atop its tail, the Alolan Raichu flies out towards the water, hovering behind the Horsea in case it tries to escape.
While he was frustrated, Drew knew it was pointless getting angry at Renia for this. Proving that he could do it on his own was pointless...when he couldnt. Not a single catch on his own, and here he was needing help again. He let out a frustrated huff, before turning to Renia. "Hey Ren, sorry to ask, but do you have any spare Pokeballs?" The Horsea was never going to escape the Raichu, so this was his perfect shot to catch it if he was ever going to have one.
?Mhm!? Renia fishes through her bag, from whence she retrieves a blue-green Pokeball. ?How about a Netball?? She asks, tossing the ball to Drew without waiting for his response.
Drew could only muster an appreciative nod in response. It burned him to his core that he had to ask that. With a reluctant toss of the pokeball and three more fidgits of the Net Ball, the Horsea was caught. The whole thing felt slightly anti-climactic with Renia's intervention, but Drew couldnt argue that it was necessary. "Thanks." He mumbled sheepishly.
Renia smiles and raises her hands to cheer, only to drop them. Shouting something like ?nice throw!? Or...anything really...would probably sound patronizing to Drew. Instead she once more tries to sneak a few steps back while Sparky levitates the Netball out of the water, and to its new owner.
That was it. The last one. Drew scratched his neck nervously as he realised it was just him and Renia now. No distractions. Every other time the two had interacted, Seb had been there to act as a conductor to bounce conversation. Without him there, Drew would actually have to figure out how to form some sort of conversation himself. "So uhh...how...where did you go?" He sighed internally. Nothing about that was even close to being comprihensible.
?O-oh, I...went to say goodbye to my parents. They-- we live in Cyllage...now. We used to live in Saffron City, then my mom was invited to Kalos to make a dress for this actress and now she has a really good business here...so we live here.? She could feel the unblinking eyes of Luna and Minako as they watched her ramble. She quickly snatches the floating rock out of the air to hold against her, sort of like a shield from the awkwardness.
"Saffron?" Drew's eyes widened at the mention of the city. "Like...Kanto?" It almost seemed obvious, seeing as the girl had both a Raichu and a Rapidash, but somehow Drew just assumed she was from Kalos.
?Mhm, I was born there. I met Sparky and Helios there, and we took on the league together.? Wait, did Drew not...that?s right! He wasn?t there when Sebastian warned Brandon not to pick a fight with her. Oh...maybe she should have casually slipped that into a conversation before their battle started...
"Beat the...huh?" Drew practically deflated once Renia just slipped in such major information. She'd beaten the pokemon league? No wonder he'd lost to her so easily. That was definitely the sort of information someone should share before they obliterated another person in a battle. "I guess that explains a lot." The grumbled, with an unamused scowl. Brushing that oversight aside, he lingered back on the topic of Saffron City. "How old did you say you were again?" He mused aloud, trying to put the puzzle together.
?N-no, not beat, we lost?? Renia frowns. Maybe that will lift Drew?s spirits a little, knowing she?s not this secret champion that goes around beating trainers with a single badge for giggles. ?I turned sixteen last month. I got Sparky from the Day Care lady when I was nine, and I got my trainer?s license when I was ten.? Something that seems far more common in Kanto than Kalos...
"Dont knock it, that's still a pretty big achievement. Thats pretty crazy though, I spent the first few years of my life in Saffron too. Obviously I dont remember much of it, but the city seemed pretty nice from what I do remember. Sucks to think about it, maybe if I'd have stayed in Kanto and started when you did, I'd be challenging the league about now. Maybe I'd have already challenged it." He finished with a sigh.
?But then...you wouldn?t have Brycen, and you wouldn?t be friends with the others?? At least, she assumed he was friends with the other Aquacorde graduates, aside from Sebastian, she had met Dahlia, Laurent, Emma, and Sebastian mentioned fighting Cinder with a girl named Avril. They all seemed friendly...
"Tch, friends." Drew scoffed, doing his best to make it seem light hearted. "I had friends in Kanto, so it's not like I wouldn't have had any if I stayed. Maybe that way my parents wouldn't have forgotten that I exist." He sighed.
Where are you, Sebastian? Renia frowns, he picked a really great time to have business to take care of...he could handle this far better than she can... "M--" No, it's not good to bring up her mother when he's saying such...not positive things about his own parents. She restarts. "And Brycen?"
Drew furrowed his brows. If she had asked this question a day sooner he may have been stuck for an answer. "Me and Brycen are pals, but we both know we're hardly perfect for each other. Heck, right now we're still at odds with what we both want from life." He glanced at the girl with a frown on his face. "Look, I'm not gonna front. Thanks to you and Sebastian I'm pretty content with where I am now. That doesnt mean I'm satisfied with how things have gone or the progress I've made as a trainer. Be honest, my entire team could have been taken down by your Steenee alone. So that shows I'm not strong enough. I almost turned my back on my best friend after already losing my best friend. I almost died. So yeah, maybe I wouldnt have the friends I have now, but I cant really get over the feeling that that's a small price to pay." He ended by staring back out over the water, his face expressionless.
She should walk away, this is not her forte, patience was not a word in her vocabulary list-- stubbornness; however, was, and so she was sticking around. ?Maybe she could have. When you?ve trained a Pokemon for over a year, you?ll be able to sweep a beginning trainer too. If you could be strong enough to challenge the league after getting one badge, they wouldn?t have you get eight.? She clenches her fist slowly. ?I know...things have been bad, and they could have been better if things were different, but if you just...if we just sit around and wish for things to be different, we?ll just make ourselves miserable. When you wallow, it just...makes everything even worse.?
The younger of the duo glanced at Renia before looking back over the water. It was advice he'd been given over a hundred times at this point. "There was a point in my life where I would have quit already. The only thing that stopped me was you, Sebastian and Brycen, like I said before. I'm not doing this because I want to."
As Drew finished speaking, his Scraggy came flying from the bushes, and crashed to the floor in a heap. The group all glanced in that direction, seeing a triumphant Quilladin stomping out of the shrubbery.
"That's why I do this." The boy sighed, running over to seperate his pokemon.
Renia sighs sadly: Great, she?s responsible for crushing his spirit, and partially responsible for making him continue on a journey he doesn?t want to take. ?You shouldn?t...do this because I want you to, or Sebastian wants you to...if your heart?s not in it??
The pink haired girl silences herself as Minako skips over to Brycen. She coos out pleasant sounding noises that can only be praise for her fellow grass type?s strength.
"Dammit Bry, what the hell were you two doing?" Drew groaned, while tending to the injured fighting type.
The Quilladin didnt seem at all phased by his trainer's scolding. He was too busy basking the in the praise of the Steenee.
?Mina?? Renia sighs. The fruit Pokemon should know better than to praise random violence...love really is blind, apparently.
As Minako continues to beam up at Brycen with a delighted smile, Luna gently floats out of Renia?s arms and descends to hover beside the collapsed Scraggy. Since she has no neck with which to tilt her head, she tilts her entire body to the side and releases a nervous cry, asking if the fighting type is alright.
"I guess there's only one way to find out for sure then." Drew sighed, propping up his Scraggy, who angrily glared at Brycen. "I seriously am doubting whether or not I want to continue with this journey stuff, but I made a promise. I suppose I've put it off long enough." As he finished speaking, he turned his head from Renia to Brycen, and then to Caesar. "If you two really want this to happen...if you really want to get stronger, you're gonna have to learn to work together. Got it? We're challenging the Cyllage city gym. Today."
Mehnir Trail was beautiful and solemn. Lush, green vegetation covered the entirety of the route bar the simple, well-maintained roads and rising up all across the trail were the imposing stone Mehnir, each marking the final resting place of a person or Pokemon that had lost their lives to the Ultimate Weapon. Kade had explored the route many times with his grandfather, watching the plethora of bird Pokemon that lived there as they flitted about the foliage or soared over their heads. The route had been Kade?s favourite place back then, but now it filled him with trepidation.
Where once Kade would have been filled with wonder there, getting willingly lost with his grandfather as his eyes watched the sky, following each new bird then flew past, now his eyes were locked straight ahead of him. If he turned away, he might not be able to continue on the path he was walking. For the first time in a long time, Kade?s attention was not drawn to the chirps of the avian Pokemon surrounding him. Their presence here was only another reminder of what he?d lost and how much more he could have. Every step he took, he became more aware of his body shaking and his anxiety building. On his shoulder, Nox nuzzled against his head in an attempt to comfort him.
?Thank you.? Kade managed to say, his voice struggling to leave his lips. ?You know what this is like. So I?m really grateful to have you here. You understand exactly what it?s like, how hard it is. I?ve got to do it though. For them and for myself.? Nox chirped quietly in response, continuing to quietly press himself against his trainer for comfort. ?I heard they were building a memorial for those that died in the fire you know. We should go back and visit it when this all over.? The Hoothoot chirped again, seemingly pleased with the idea.
After that, the pair carried on in silence, it was too hard to make himself speak any further. Kade was too busy fighting against the anxiety that was surging through his body like a cornered beast, his heart hammering and body shaking as he took short and sharp breaths. Nox stayed firm, balanced on his trainer?s shoulder, and Kade latched onto the tiny bird?s presence as his crutch and comfort. Remembering the directions he?d received, Kade turned down a small side path and followed it down. Eventually coming to stop in a small grove where three Menhir stood like sentinels, surrounded by small patches of wildflowers. Kade turned to the one on the left and knelt in front of it, reading the inscription on the stone.
Clint and Helena Andrews
?Unshackled from the bonds of the Earth, we fly free as the birds.?
For the longest time, Kade merely knelt there in silence, staring at his grandparents? grave, quivering. He felt a swirling maelstrom of emotions within himself; sadness, guilt, anger, strange feelings he couldn?t even identify. He knew how to express none of what he felt. He just knew that he had to be there at that moment, paying his respects to two people who had shaped who he was, perhaps more than any other, and who had meant the world to him.
Soon the memories came flooding back, everything from his earliest experiences to witnessing the destruction of Geosenge. So much of his life?s direction had been influenced by the two that lay beneath the ground before him. He remembered the first time he?d gone bird watching with his grandfather, being lifted onto his shoulders and staring through the old man?s binoculars that were too big and heavy for a young child. His mother had warned him that it would be boring and that it was a hobby for old people, but he?d taken to it immediately. It had been his grandfather who had taught him to appreciate the beauty and grace of a bird in flight. That one day was responsible for so much of Kade?s identity. They?d stayed out until the noctowl flew and then returned home where Kade had sat on his grandmother?s lap and enthusiastically regaled her with a detailed recount of everything he?d seen until eventually he?d fell asleep there.
?There?s so much I want to say, but I don?t know if I can.? Kade finally managed to speak, his voice catching in his throat as tears finally started to fall. Nox chirped quietly in his ear, staying as close as he could for comfort, prodding Kade softly with his beak and urging him to continue. ?I?m sorry I didn?t make it to your funeral. I wanted to be there more than I can describe, to say goodbye properly, but they wouldn?t let me off the ward. They ended up having to sedate me... I got so worked up over it they were worried I?d hurt someone or myself. You?d probably have found it really silly. You always encouraged me to let go of negativity like that. I try really hard to do that now. I learned that there?s no time to get caught up in the bad times, you never know when your life is going to get cut short. It?s better to focus on the positives and live for what makes you happy - just like you two did. I take a lot of comfort knowing that you would have died without regrets. Although, you?d probably tell me off for how much time I spent angry and grieving. I really worried mum and dad.? Kade stopped for a moment, struggling to control himself enough to speak, digging his fingers into his thighs. It was several minutes before he could take a few deep breaths and continue.
?I?m? I?m still not better, being honest. I still have panic attacks sometimes. I still have the flashbacks. I?m a lot better than I was though, and I?m trying. I?m working really hard and aiming high for my goal of opening a Flying type gym. I have seven Pokemon now, all of them birds. I?m really close with them all, they?re amazing. The Hoothoot on my shoulder right now is Nox.? Nox tweeted as though in greeting. ?There?s also Stratus - she was my starter - Contrail, Arcus, Nimbus, Cumulus and Floccus. I made a human friends too. Brie and Sky, and maybe Laurent and Avril too. I think? I hope you?d be proud of how far I?ve come. I?ve won battles, I?ve been through really tough situations, I?ve actually gotten to know people. I?ve even seen two legendary Flying Pokemon already - you?d be really jealous of that Grandad. I?ve definitely come a long way. So much of who I am though, stems from you two. So much of who I am is because of the time I spent in Geosenge growing up and your influence. So thank you for that. I just hope you?re still watching over me from somewhere. I really love you guys.?
Kade continued to stay there, kneeling in front of the grave with Nox, letting his tears drop into the dirt in front of the menhir until there were none left to give. For the first time in a long time, he felt relief. A huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He?d finally been able to express so much of what he?d been feeling. It hadn?t been easy to come to the grave, but it had been cathartic. At last he?d been able to say goodbye to his grandparents. He hoped that meant he could close a dark chapter in his life and finally move onto a brighter time, although he would always cling to his memories of two of the most important figures in his life.
?I just want to stay a little longer Nox, then I?ll be ready to move on.? When he said it, that phrase meant so much more than continuing his journey.
?Alright, I?m gonna need the two of you to work together here. No squabbling. Got it.? A stern tone left the mouth of a rather apprehensive Drew Tucker. The boy now stood in the Cyllage City gym, across the room from the toughest test of his journey yet. Sure Renia was stronger, but the stakes here were so much higher. It was a long wait, but he was finally here.
Brycen and Caesar. It was a no brainer. The two pokemon glared between each other with an intense animosity. Brycen took the initiative, being the one to step forward first. The referee had already addressed the battle, and both trainers stood with their chosen pokemon advanced onto the field. Quilladin vs Arourus. Going in blind admittedly wasn?t the smartest choice, but against a rock type gym, Drew was fairly confident his grass type and fighting type could get the job done.
?I hope you?re ready Drew. You seemed to really struggle just getting up here.? Grant chuckled, Drawing Drew?s attention like a snap of the fingers.
The battle with Renia had been running through Drew?s mind all day. It was a necessary wake up call, but it stung to lose the way he did. He was reminded of Avril?s battle against Volkner in Lumiose. How different things were now. Watching that battle made him gain an immense respect for the blonde, and their encounter on the beach showed him just how much stronger she had become since then. In spite of all that, he always seemed to find himself suffering back to back losses. Never truly able to bounce back in the same fashion. Not this time.
Brycen on the other hand, wasn?t so pleased. Once again, Drew was partnering him up with that insufferable Scraggy. Why? So many times, he?d had to put up with the yellow pokemon?s failures. Firstly his incessant challenging of him every time they met. Then falling at the very first hurdle against the Skarmory. Again he fell short when pitted against the Magcargo and Pyroar, opting for fancy dodging over actual intelligent battling. Then of course, against the pink haired girl, Brycen again had to watch as the fighting type had little to no level of threat in that battle. Even despite his poor performance, the Scraggy made the girl return her Steenee. Now Drew was making him fight alongside the moron. Granted, he was confident he could manage the handicap, but it wasn?t one he should have to deal with. Surely Levi wouldve been a better call in a battle against rock types anyway.
Caesar staggered as he landed from his ball. While usually eager to battle, the fighting type was honestly feeling hesitant after still not having a single win under his new trainer. As if that wasn?t motivation enough, he?d continued to butt heads with the obnoxious Quilladin. To think he?d once respected and even admired the pokemon when they?d met on Versant Road. He was determined to show his ?partner? up.
?Arourus, start with Hail!? Grant finally broke into a smile as he shattered the silence. Crystalised balls of ice began to shower down in a deluge. The green chesnut instantly felt the impact. With each ball that burst into his back, he grimaced, halting any retaliation he may have been preparing. ?You should know a grass type against an ice type is a poor matchup. Then again, you must be the kid that used the Chespin against Viola. I?ll teach you why such a bold move won?t work against me. Arourus, Mist! Then Hyper Beam!? Grant spoke with a smile as his pokemon continued to dominate the battle. A thick white haze clouded the area, leaving both trainers and pokemon without their vision of the field.
Brycen staggered back, looking for a way out of the fog. He didn?t have to wait long.
Drew jumped as massive white beam split the steam in two, with a Quilladin being obliterated on the end of it. After a hint of fear though, the boy smirked. Brycen had been his partner for long enough now. Little chestnut wouldn?t go down that easy.
Drew was right. Despite the super effective uber attack, Brycen found his way to his feet. Countless times before, he?d shown his tenacity in getting up from assaults he never should have survived. This was no different. ?I guess it?s finally our turn.? Drew chuckled, prompting a smirk from his pokemon. ?Let?s show off that new move, huh? Use Seed Bomb!?
More than ready for his reprisal, Brycen wasted no time in launching himself into the air, and firing several green balls of concentrated grass type energy. Each volatile ball, exploded in a green haze around the dinosaur.
?Vine Whip, and follow it up with take down!?
Brycen knew exactly what to do. With the ice type disorientated, he slung his vine around its neck, before dragging himself towards the Arourus like a bullet.
?Impressive, but you?ve not done en-?
?Bry, sit back for a bit, yeah?? Drew interrupted, with a more comfortable, lazy expression on his face. Grant and his pokemon tilted their head simultaneously. Even the Quilladin seemed unsure, but Drew was unperturbed. He looked down to his right, the scrawny yellow pokemon looking up at him with the same uncertainty as the others. ?How about it Caes? You got the rest. This isn?t like Renia, or the Cinder grunts, heck even Skarmory. Let?s show ?em what you can do, huh?? He smiled, kneeling to meet the pokemon at eye level. Of course he understood that this would frustrate Brycen, but this was a move to benefit the team, not just his strongest pokemon.
Caesar stepped forward. In truth, he had little faith in what Drew was trying to preach to him, but he had faith in Drew. Being even smaller than the Quilladin that had faced this monster before him, the battle seemed even more like David vs Goliath than it did before. That said, he did have an extremely useful type advantage that not even Brycen had. Being a fighting type, the Scraggy was at an advantage in that department at least.
?Well, let?s put him to the same test, same combo!? Grant ordered.
Immediately, the superior choice of typing played to Drew?s advantage. Caesar was able to take the pelting ice much easier, and resultantly avoided the mist before it could obscure his senses. The refrigerated ice beam that followed was another easy dodge, allowing for a swift counter attack while the exhausted brontosaurus recovered.
?Low Kick!? Drew grinned, knowing the attack would be an easy one hit KO. As the Scraggy did attack however, his kick struck the leg of the huge pokemon, doing virtually nothing. He was barely able to dodge the resulting stomp that surely would have put him out of the battle.
A similar pattern continued, with Grant putting together different combos to throw Drew and Caesar off. A few attacks landed, but none devastating enough to slow the Scraggy down. Each attack that didn?t land however, was punished with a Brick Break or a Chip Away to the sturdy legs of the dinosaur.
?Finish it with Low Kick!? Drew called as yet another Hyper Beam attack burst through a rocky pyre instead of hitting its intended target. With its legs being broken down over time, the Scraggy was able to muster the strength to knock the giant off of its balance and crashing to the ground. As the trainer expected, the attack didn?t require any kind of follow up.
Caesar smiled, looking back at Drew. He really had gotten stronger, and this was proof. When he was with his gang, he was defeated by a Chespin. The same Chespin that was now a Quilladin being beaten down by the opponent he?d just taken apart. This was his true strength.
?Tyrantrum, let?s shift the tide of this battle.? Grant huffed, as he tossed the pokeball.
"Nothing could stop this Pok?mon 100 million years ago, so it behaved like a king."
?Short and to the point, huh?? Drew sighed as he looked up from his pokedex. ?Caesar, sit back, I?ll have Bry-?
Before the trainer could finish even finish his instruction, he noticed his pokemon wasn?t even listening. In front of his very eyes, the Scraggy began to glow white. His form expanded. The primarily yellow body darkened to a bright orange. The sprout on his head flushed into a Mohawk. The bright and wide eyed blank expression turned to a confident, lazy smirk.
The T-rex flared in annoyance at the newly evolved Scrafty?s arrogant demeanour. Dismissing any command his trainer may have been ready to give him, he violently thrashed toward the fighting type, smashing every pyre of rocks in his way.
Caesar jumped back, almost effortlessly dodging each attack.
?Tyrantrum, calm down and use Dragon Dance!?
Caesar smirked. This sort of opening was just what he had been waiting for. With a quick glanced at Drew for reassurance, he hopped off of the pyre he was standing on and struck the T-Rex with a Hi Jump Kick.
The dino staggered back, but seemed to take the attack well enough.
?Was never gonna be that easy.? Drew sighed. ?Use Swagger!?
It backfired. The attack boost, along with the one the Tyrantrum already had after his dragon dance were enough to send the Scrafty crashing through multiple rocky pyres.
Caesar managed to recapture his balance, but the speed enhanced Tyrantrum was right on top of him.
?Tri-Fing!? Grant chirped. His pokemon?s fangs began to glow a visceral crackle, flare and glaze of yellow, red and glacier blue. He slammed his head to crunch the fighting type, but was met by a forceful kick to the jaw. Before he could respond, his legs were swept from under him?and just like that, Tyrantrum was defeated.
A satisfied smile forced its way onto Drew?s face.
?Well?I suppose that?s game. You?ve come a long way since your battle with Viola. The fact you?re using your own pokemon certainly helps.? Grant chuckled, provoking an unamused frown from Drew. ?You?ve earned this, Drew Tucker.? He opened Drew?s hand, placing a Cliff Badge, and the TM Rock Tomb into it.
Behind them, an exhausted Caesar gasped for air as the huge Tyrantrum that landed on top of him was returned to his ball. He looked up to the sight of Brycen, with his arm stretched out to help him up. Strange. Although hesitant, Caesar reached out to take the hand, but the grass type closed his hand into a fist before he could grab it. The Scrafty prepared himself to have to retaliate, but the Quilladin just stood there. He remembered seeing him do a similar thing with Drew. Their fists touched. That was all right? With a grin from both pokemon, Caesar and Brycen bumped fists.
Sebastian Allender
